ALL three of BCP Council’s tips will reopen from Monday, although it has warned they are likely to be “extremely busy”.

The number of vehicles allowed at each facility will be limited and social distancing measures will be introduced at each site.

But cabinet member councillor Felicity Rice said people should still only visit “if absolutely necessary” and the council has warned they may close if they become too busy.

The council closed its tips, or household recycling centres, at Wilverley Road in Christchurch, Millhams in Bournemouth and Nuffield in Poole in March after lockdown measures were brought in.

But in recent weeks there have been increasing calls to reopen the facilities, including from Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood and the government.

BCP Council has resisted doing so until guidance on what constitutes an essential journey was changed. This was done on Tuesday.

Following this, it has been agreed that tips will reopen from Monday, with all three opening from 9am-6pm seven days a week.

The number of vehicles accessing each site will be controlled and social distancing measures put in place, including allowing only one person per car.

Blue badge holders will be allowed to take someone to assist them.

Traffic restrictions will be introduced on surrounding roads in a bid to reduce queues into each site. And the council has warned it will close tips if they become too busy.

Cllr Rice, the cabinet member for the environment, said people should only visit if they were unable to safely store waste at home.

“We had to close HRC’s (household recycling centres) on public safety grounds as part of our effort to ensure social distancing, as well as the fact that trips to the HRC were not listed as an essential reason for travel in the government’s lockdown regulations,” she said.

“This temporary closure has enabled us to redeploy our staff to respond to the national emergency and maintain other key frontline services such as waste collections.

“We know residents have found the closure of HRC’s challenging and it’s clear all three sites will be very busy when they do reopen, so we’re asking people to only go to the recycling centres if it is absolutely essential.”

She said social distancing measures will mean staff are unable to physically help visitors.

She added: “The staff working at the HRC sites are there to provide a safe place for residents to use this service and I would stress the importance of treating all our staff with the respect they deserve and remind residents that any abuse towards them will not be tolerated.”

Commercial waste services will remain closed, as will the shops at Wilverley Road and Nuffield.

The reopenings have been timed in conjunction with Hampshire County Council and Dorset Council because of agreements allowing residents to visit tips in neighbouring local authority areas.