Machynlleth bulky waste service withdrawn by Powys cabinet

A council decision to withdraw a bulky household waste removal service in a Powys town has been slammed as "going against common sense".

Powys council started the Saturday morning service in Machynlleth after shutting its recycling centre in 2015.

Councillor Mike Williams said residents would have to make long trips to other recycling sites to dispose of bulky items such as old washing machines.

A report said residents were using the service to dispose of black bag refuse.

Since the service began, three-weekly refuse collections were introduced in Powys, leading to more black bags being dropped off on Saturday mornings which was undermining its "effectiveness", according to the report.

The cabinet agreed to reduce the service to fortnightly for three months from June and ban black bag refuse disposal before closing it down from September.

Running the service cost £78,000 so withdrawing it would help to reduce an overspend in the authority's waste and recycling budget, said the report.