Residents making improvements to homes and gardens during the summer months are urged to use Dudley Council’s tip as figures reveal thousands of people are failing to keep appointments every month.

The site, located on Birmingham Street in Stourbridge, accepts bookings for household garden, recycling and general waste from across the borough.

Those who wish to use the site are asked to book online, with same day and future slots available. People are also urged to keep or cancel their appointments following incidents where people have not attended the slot.

Figures show one in eight people booking a slot are failing to turn up which equates to around 2,000 bookings a month. Weekends are particularly impacted with around 100 people failing to turn up each day.

Bosses say the problem can have a negative impact on the service and are reminding people they are not restricted on the number of bookings they can make and appointments should be cancelled if no longer needed. Councillor Shaz Saleem, cabinet member for highways and public realm, said:

"The Household Waste and Recycling centre accepts many items from recyclables such as cardboards, textiles, batteries, oils and electrical items to general waste.

"Many residents use the site to dispose of additional gardening and household waste including bigger items such as wood and metals that would be too bulky for the kerbside collection scheme.

"Booking to use the site is very easy through our online system, which also enables people to cancel and reschedule at the touch of a button.

"This information helps the fantastic team who manage the site to keep it operating so efficiently, and I would like to extend my thanks to them for all they do.

"Unfortunately, we have had many instances of people book a slot but not show up which can impact negatively on the service and block slots for others. We have also found the final two hours of operation to be very quiet.

"We are asking people to make the most of the service this summer before we review our opening hours."

Summer opening hours run until 30 September, with the site open 8am to 4pm on Saturday and Sundays and 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. People can find out more, create and manage their booking online.