Oxfordshire County Council consultation on recycling centres

The council runs seven Household Waste Recycling Centres at a cost of £1.2m

Household waste sites could close in Oxfordshire because the authority needs to save £350,000.

Oxfordshire County Council currently runs seven Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) at a cost of £1.2m.

Deputy leader Rodney Rose said: "We will need to make the saving - the question is how we go about it."

The council's cabinet will be asked to approve a consultation on 21 July, with a final decision to be made later in the year.

The centres are at Alkerton, Ardley, Stanton Harcourt, Drayton, Oakley Wood, Redbridge, and Stanford in the Vale. Ardley is already set to be closed by the landowners in 2017.

More than one million visits are made to the sites each year.

'Tough decisions'

The consultation includes the possibility of building new sites nearer to populated centres but the council admits changes would take "several years to fully implement".

Mr Rose said "tough decisions" had to be made because of reduced funding from central government, limits on raising council tax, and pressures on adult and children's social care.

But he said alternatives to residents were still available.

He added: "I bought a new mattress recently - the company I bought it from gave the offer of taking the old one away, as you can do with televisions and all those things you might visit a tip for."