A NUMBER of Thurrock residents have spoken of their frustration at being barred from using trailers to take household rubbish to the borough's civic recycling site at Linford, even though they have permits.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic the council has imposed a series of restrictions at the tip, which it actually closed for a number of weeks.

When it reopened in May there were a reduced number of bays available to be used. Though vans, for which the drivers have to have a permit, are allowed to use the site - trailers are not.

That has caused annoyance to trailer-users who say they are unable to use their cars to shift the amount of material they have accumulated.

And residents now fear that some tip users may resort to fly-tipping.

The case for trailer-users in her ward was taken up by Orsett councillor Sue Little - but she too drew a blank from the council who told her: "Whilst the household waste and recycle centre is still adhering to the government's advice on social distancing we are at present unable to accommodate trailers at this time.

"We have increased capacity of our service bays from five to eleven to alleviate queues however due to the size of trailers they cause an obstacle for other vehicles to manoeuvre around the limited space of the yard

"The permits are issued free of charge to residents so there will be no need to refund residents that have been unable to use the household waste and recycling centre."

A suggestion that the tip be opened for trailers at specified times has gone unheeded by the council.

Cllr Little has suggest that aggrieved tip users should make their views known directly to the council leader, Cllr Rob Gledhill, by emailing him at [email protected]. Cllr Gledhill didn't exactly endear himself to tip users earlier in the year when he told them not to waste time queuing at the tip, saying: "With time outside so precious, such beautiful weather and exercise being such an important way to stay fit and maintain well-being don't waste it in a traffic queue for the tip. If you have been able to safely store large waste items I recommend you continue to do so and use your time outside to stay active rather than queue for the municipal tip. see story.

Details of opening times at the tip and restrictions on use can be found here.