Bromley is to become the first London borough to reopen its tips since lockdown.

A booking system for both household waste and recycling centres will be trialled from Monday, restricting visits to appointment only, with stringent social distancing measures to be enforced.

Without a slot and possession of a valid council waste pass, residents will be refused entry to Churchfields or Waldo Road should they turn up.

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, Executive Councillor for Environment and Community Services said, “We are obviously aware that residents remain extremely keen to see both Waldo Road and Churchfields re-opened at the earliest possible opportunity and with staffing numbers now permitting, the time is right to try and do so.

"As the first Borough in London to attempt to re-open our sites, we are approaching this exercise cautiously, as it does remain something of an experiment for now which we may very well have to learn from and quickly adapt to over the course of coming days, so please stick with us.

"There will obviously be a need to clean the sites at frequent intervals during the course of each day and we absolutely need residents to understand the limited basis on which we are able to re-open the service, if we are to make this work between us.”

Local Government secretary Robert Jenrick today said councils should be confident in reopening tips "as soon as possible", but there have been warnings that protective equipment for waste workers and proper social distancing must be put in place.

The limited opening hours of Bromley's sites will see a limited number of visitors for the first week of operation, with a fuller roll out planned at the "earliest possible opportunity", as soon as the changes have been fully tested.

Residents will be asked to only attend the site with a passenger from the same household if this person is required to physically help lift items from the vehicle, with staff only able to assist at a distance.

Anyone who "appears to be unwell" will be refused entry.

Both sites will open with restricted opening times of 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm on Saturday and 9am to 12pm on Sundays.

For further information visit: https://bookings.bromley.gov.uk/Generic/RefuseVisit/appointment.html?pg=4a1c2591-b635-471f-bb25-c522812c6def