COUNCIL workers at Hampshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) have been abused and spat at since tips reopened on May 11, the county council has revealed.

Hampshire County Council has warned that it will have "no option" but to close the county’s HWRCs if this abuse continues, and has also taken steps to reduce "dangerous queuing".

Opening hours of Hampshire’s tips will be extended to 6pm from Saturday (May 23) as part of efforts to reduce these queues.

The county’s HWRCs are currently operating temporary revised daily opening hours of 10am to 4pm, with social-distancing measures in place for the safety of staff and the public.

The extension will apply to all HWRCs across Hampshire including Alton, Bordon and Petersfield.

More than 4,000 visits have been made to Hampshire’s tips each day since they re-opened, equating to almost 30,000 visits in the first week since reopening.

But the county council is again asking residents to travel to them only if their journey is essential, and to reconsider if they encounter long queues at the sites when they arrive.

Councillor Rob Humby, deputy leader and executive member for economy, transport and environment at Hampshire County Council, said: “With new measures in place at HWRCs for safe social distancing, the number of vehicles we can have on site at any one time is much less than before the coronavirus outbreak.

"Therefore, I would ask people to consider if they really do need to take their waste to an HWRC at this time.

"We have seen significant traffic queues in the last two weeks since the HWRCs reopened, which have impacted on local people trying to get to work as well as having a detrimental impact on the ability for businesses nearby to get back up and running.

“From Saturday, the HWRCs will be open until 6pm every day, which will allow more vehicles to pass through, but, if there are queues when people arrive, I would urge them to follow our traffic management directions and queue responsibly.

"Please obey the signage that is in place, especially the ’Do not queue beyond this point’ signs as well as keeping entrances and junctions clear. The signage and other traffic measures are there for road safety reasons!

"Please consider the impact on others – local residents, businesses neighbouring HWRCs on industrial estates who are trying to get back up and running, and, most importantly, the safety of others using the roads.

“While we understand that residents may be frustrated by the queues, it is disappointing and alarming to hear of reports of verbal and physical abuse occurring against site staff - including staff being spat at.

"Where incidents of this nature occur or queuing traffic is potentially becoming dangerous, we will have no option but to consider closing these HWRCs in order to keep site staff, other road users and residents safe.

“With the majority of waste coming to the sites being green garden waste, we are encouraged that our colleagues in those districts that suspended green waste collections are considering restarting them, and we ask residents to consider using the kerbside green waste collections offered by their district or borough council as well as home composting as an alternative.”

Further information on new measures in place at Hampshire HWRCs is available at: https://www.hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/coronavirus?second=waste-recycling&third=hwrcs