Rutland County Council will remove the requirement for residents to book to use local Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) from Monday 19 July, following the lifting of most national COVID restrictions.

Advanced booking for Rutland's recycling centres at North Luffenham and Cottesmore was first introduced as a temporary measure in April, to ensure sites could operate safely and effectively as COVID restrictions were eased.

The Government confirmed this week that most legal restrictions to control COVID-19 will be lifted on Monday 19 July.

From this date, Rutland's HWRC booking system will also be removed and residents can return to using both sites without a pre-booked time slot.

Lincolnshire County Council has made a similar move for its centres.

North Luffenham Recycling Centre will continue to be open from 10.00am until 6.00pm, Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays). Cottesmore Recycling Centre will remain open from 10.00am until 6.00pm, Friday to Monday (closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday).

Trailers of no more than 2.05m in length will be allowed to access North Luffenham Recycling centre as the Council monitors increased traffic volumes on site.

A decision on whether to allow larger trailers at North Luffenham will be taken in August. The current ban on trailers at Cottesmore Recycling Centre will remain in place and be kept under review.

Coun Lucy Stephenson, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "The booking system in place at our recycling centres has been important to manage traffic and safety while we've been unable to run at full capacity due to COVID.

"We have said throughout that this is a temporary measure and we would look to remove it once national COVID restrictions were lifted. That will shortly be the case, at which point residents can return to using the recycling centres as normal.

"I would, however, urge everyone to remain cautious. We know that COVID infections are continuing to rise. The extent to which we act responsibly and with due care will go a long way to determining the impact this has in Rutland after 19 July."

For more information about recycling services in Rutland, including details of what materials can be recycled at the County's recycling centres, please visit: www.rutland.gov.uk/recycling.

For information about changes to other Rutland County Council services following the lifting of nation COVID restrictions, please visit: www.rutland.gov.uk.

The customer service desk at Rutland County Council's Catmose offices in Oakham remains closed to members of the public while it is being used as a COVID-19 vaccination centre.