AS the town is being urged to do their bit for National Recycling Week those who turn up to Stockton Heath Recycling Centre are greeted with a sign saying it is set to close.

Warrington Borough Council has taken the decision to close the Sandy Lane centre after appointing a new contractor to manage the centres.

The council say the closure comes as a result of government cuts to services.

The new management system will also mean that Woolston Recycling Centre will now open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm at the weekends.

Gatewarth Recycling Centre will open from 8am to 6pm every day of the week.

The move has left users of the South Warrington centre and residents living near Arpley Tip outraged.

Julie Holden, of Hobb Lane, Moore, said: “South Warrington residents will now have to travel to Sankey or Woolston for recycling facilities. Closure of Stockton Heath will cause increased traffic through Warrington and at the other facilities, encourage people not to recycle, fly tipping and other things too.

“The facility work force advised me that closure was because of the council's perceived reduction in recycling at the facility, however the employees I spoke to said that their records of volumes for the past 12 months did not support this.”

One who did not want to be named added: “This means that before 1am and after 4pm the only recycling centre for the entire population of Warrington will be Gatewarth resulting in a vast increase in traffic along Barnard street near to Arpley landfill.”

Clr David Keane, executive board member for environment and public protection, said there had been a 50 per cent drop in use of recycling due to more kerb recycling.

He added: “This has been a tough decision but due to Government cuts in funding, in order to deliver savings and due to the various site and operational restrictions it has been agreed to close this site.

“However, in order to compensate for closing the site, we will be looking to expand other recycling facilities in the area including new bring bank sites and promotion of other existing services such as the bulky waste collection service and of course our kerbside recycling collection services.”

Residents are also advised to visit recycleforwarrington.co.uk for more recycling help.