Festive changes planned to tip site opening hours

Household waste sites, including the city council's Gypsum Close facility, will have reduced hours over the Christmas break

Details of opening hours for Leicestershire and Rutland's recycling centres have been released ahead of the festive period.

The 13 waste sites operated by Leicestershire County Council will all be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

In Leicester, the city council's Gypsum Close and Freemen's Common sites will be shut on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

In addition, the Leicester waste sites will close early at 14:00 GMT on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Meanwhile, in Rutland, the county council's sites in Cottesmore and North Luffenham will be shut on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day, with early 15:00 closing on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

The county council warned the days after Boxing Day and into the New Year "can be extremely busy".

Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and the green agenda, said: "We're approaching the busiest time of the year at our waste sites.

"While we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure that opening hours aren't affected outside the usual seasonal closures, we'd encourage visitors to check our website and social media for updates and be patient if they do visit a site."

The city council had previously said its Gypsum Close and Freemen's Commons sites would be closed on 27 December, but has since advised the closures were incorrectly listed and both sites will operate as normal.