OPENING hours at recycling centres are to be reduced from the beginning of July as part of cost-cutting measures, council chiefs have confirmed.

North Yorkshire County Council runs 19 centres across the county - including those in Northallerton, Catterick, Leeming Bar, Leyburn and Stokesley - at an annual cost of £5.1m.

About £2.1m of this costs relates to providing and operating the sites, with the rest accounting for the cost of recycling, composting or disposing of waste. Faced with significant financial pressures, the council is to introduce a reduction in the opening hours, which it says will cut the operating costs by ten per cent.

The reduction in opening times will mean a reduction in the amount of overtime shifts available to staff, with cuts to the hours of casual staff supplied by outside agencies.

A spokesman said: "We currently offer a very high level of service provision, with the sites open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.

"We investigated more than 20 possible options for reducing operating hours, and consulted site users throughout February on the two options that we considered would have the least impact. "More than 4,000 users responded to the consultation and 87 per cent of those preferred the option to close all household waste recycling centres on the quietest weekday.

"As a result, we have decided to operate the network on six days a week from July 1, with all centres closed on Wednesdays."

The council has pledged to maintain the current standards of service and will continue to divert about 70 per cent of waste from landfill.

It will also continue to expand the range of materials accepted for reuse, recycling or composting at the recycling centres whenever it is financially sound to do so.

Tony Norris, the council’s waste services manager, admitted the changes may not be popular, but stressed that a strong service was being maintained, with centres open more than 60 hours a week in the peak summer months.

The first mid-week closure will take place on Wednesday, July 6, and centres will be closed each Wednesday after that.

They will also continue to be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day.

To find the location of your nearest recycling centre, or to check opening times, visit northyorks.gov.uk/hwrc or call the customer services centre, on 0845-8727374.