March 23, 2020 1.38 pm This story is over 48 months old

New coronavirus tip restrictions after visitor numbers swell

“The visitor numbers this weekend show people are not taking the advice on board”
Traffic to Lincoln waste recycling centre at the beginning of the pandemic. Photo: supplied

North East Lincolnshire Council has started turning people away from its tips after visitor numbers almost reached an entire summer weekend in one day.

New restrictions are being brought in at the authority’s Community Recycling Centres as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

This weekend, the centres saw 1,050 visitors to Grimsby on Saturday and 987 on Sunday while Immingham had 250 and 317 respectively.

A spokesman for the authority said a typical busy weekend in the summer would see 1,100 visits to Grimsby and 250 visits to Immingham across the entire two days.

Traffic stock picture.

Councillor Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport and North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “All we’re being asked to do is to stay at home and limit our contact with other people.

“That means stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.

“The visitor numbers this weekend show people are not taking that advice on board.

“Queues are already running around the block at the Grimsby site today.

“This isn’t a Bank Holiday. People who ignore the advice are risking the safety of others and putting an extra burden on health workers.”

The restrictions in place are as follows:

  • Up to four cars on site at a time
  • One visit per day
  • Only household waste and recycling that is usually collected at the kerbside will be accepted (general household rubbish, plastic bottles, tins, cans and metal household packaging, paper and card, glass bottles and jars.)
  • Other rubbish and recycling, including mattresses, furniture, garden waste, white goods and building material will no longer accepted until further notice.

Traffic to Lincoln waste recycling centre. Photo: supplied

For Lincolnshire County Council, tips remain open as usual, however the number of cars on site has been limited to eight at a time to allow for increased social distancing.

The measures saw some queue for more than an hour over the weekend.

Spalding recycling centre was forced to close on Friday after queuing traffic caused a dangerous obstruction for other road users.

North Lincolnshire Council has not put any restrictions in place so far, but has been contacted for further updates.

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