NORTH Yorkshire has reopened all but one of its waste and recycling tips, with a further five sites opening yesterday.

The latest centres to reopen are at Yafforth Road in Northallerton, Dallamires Crescent in Ripon and Pasture Lane in Malton, as well as Wombleton, near Pickering and Station Road in Tadcaster.

This means 19 of the county's 20 waste and recycling centres have been opened again. Only the Stonefall site at Harrogate remains closed.

The county council, which manages the tips, says the most important element in reopening the sites has been to ensure staff and members of the public are safe.

The recycling centres were closed in March as part of the county council's response to the Government's restrictions to protect the public during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cllr Andrew Lee, executive member for waste management, said: "It is great to see all but one of the sites reopening, and I would like to thank the North Yorkshire residents for their understanding, and for playing their part by continuing to recycle and dispose of their waste responsibly.

"We are asking people to only visit the sites when they can’t store their waste at home. All the sites that have reopened so far have been managed well by our contractor Yorwaste with new controls to keep the public and staff safe. We would like to remind residents that we are currently unable to accept trailers or commercial customers at any of the sites."

From this week the sites will be open from 8.30am to 5pm, seven days a week, including bank holidays. But operators are imposing strict rules to the use of the sites so they can avoid overcrowding with a queueing system for vehicles being organised by staff.

Because of concerns over back up of traffic on highways there will be a cut-off point for the queues so drivers may be asked to come back at a different time if the queue becomes too long. Only one person will be allowed out of the vehicle to dispose of waste, wherever possible, to keep the number of people on site to a minimum

To maintain social distancing, staff will not be able to help members of the public dispose of waste so managers are asking visitors to only bring what they can manage to lift themselves.

Trailers will not be allowed onto the sites at any time, the council say this will be reviewed as the government advice to the public changes and lockdown restrictions are reviewed.

Commercial waste will also not be accepted. Commercial like vehicles for household waste are allowed as long as they are pre-registered with the authority. Normal rules will apply for non-commercial chargeable waste with only payments using cards accepted.

Visitors are asked to stay two metres apart whilst on the site, wash their hands before attending and wear gloves if possible. For information www.northyorks.gov.uk/household-waste-and-recycling-during-coronavirus-covid-19