Free Worcester skip service to be scrapped by council

The skips allow residents to drop off bulky household items locally (generic image)

A free pop-up waste collection service is to be scrapped by Worcester City Council to save money.

The local authority plans to stop its Saturday skip service next year to make annual savings of about £50,000.

The skips, operated in sites across the city, allow residents to drop off bulky household waste locally if they are unable to access recycling centres.

Discontinuing the service would avoid accruing "additional and unnecessary costs", the council said.

The seven skips, reintroduced in 2021, are sited at locations including Weir Lane in Lower Wick, Waverly Street near Cherry Orchard Nature Reserve and the KGV Playing Fields in Brickfields Road.

They are emptied on rota, with bin lorries visiting each site about every eight weeks.

There are two household recycling centres in Worcester operated by the city council

The council said the bulk of the cost goes toward staff overtime, since none of its waste or recycling workers were contracted to work weekends.

The free service also clashes with the council's chargeable collections for bulky waste, with costs for picking up items such as fridges and televisions ranging from £11.20 to £21.50.

With many skips in areas where housing associations should be footing the bill for collecting rubbish, the council said continuing the service involved "additional and unnecessary costs".

It has warned of job losses and further cuts to services with a budget shortfall expected to rise to at least £4m in the next five years.

Bosses are already discussing cuts to departmental budgets and have reopened a voluntary redundancy scheme.

There are also plans to look at outsourcing services and turn to sponsors, volunteers and other community organisations to run activities in a bid to bringing spending in line with income.