Council bosses have announced plans to reopen the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Stourbridge next week to pre-booked residents.

The Birmingham Street site will be open to those Dudley borough residents who have booked a slot from Monday 11 May, following closure in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.

People should only however book an appointment if their waste or recycling cannot be disposed of through the normal household and recycling collections or if it cannot be stored at home safely without causing a risk of injury, health or harm to the resident or other members of their household or to public health and amenity.

Dudley Council Plus is operating a booking only system, restricting the number of site visits to per hour. In the short term there will be limited capacity which will be reviewed in the coming weeks. Anyone turning up without a prior appointment will be turned away without exception.

Households will be limited to one visit per week (subject to availability) to maximise the number of residents that can benefit from the site being open. For the time being only cars will be permitted on the site and it will remain closed to permit holders. On booking, site users will be told only one person per car can arrive on site unless two people are needed to unload.  No children or pets allowed. Strict social distancing measures will be in place to help keep staff and visitors safe.

Due to social distancing, no assistance for unloading can be provided, and users are asked to sort their waste before arrival. The re-use shop remains closed and parking will be limited to one side. Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental, highways and street services, said:

"We have been working hard to find a safe way to reopen the site and I’m delighted that we will soon be in a position to get it going again albeit in a different way for the time being.

"In order to keep people safe we do need to keep strict social distancing measures in place, which is why we are only taking prior bookings. I would remind people not to turn up to the site without booking first as they will be turned away.

"I know this is not ideal and many people will be desperate to clear their rubbish from home but we wanted to make a start as quickly as possible and this is the only way. I would ask people to only book an appointment if it’s essential and where possible wait until government restrictions are lifted.

"We do anticipate that people will have to queue when they get to the site so I would ask people to please bear with us and respect others including our site staff.

"I would like to thank all our residents for continuing to follow government guidelines by staying home to save lives and protect our NHS."

People should call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345 to book their slot. Residents are asked to be patient as demand is expected to be very high initially. Standard bulky waste collections for items such as sofas or garden waste can also be booked by calling Dudley Council Plus.

For items such as mattresses and carpets, people can call Textek, a company working in partnership with the council to offer discounted rate collections. They can be contacted on 01948 840251.