Recycling in Thanet during Christmas and New Year could lead to increased fly tipping in alleyways and on waste ground.

That’s the fear of Thanet’s Labour leader Cllr Richard Nicholson who said the council’s waste collection teams should have been asked to work staggered shifts at the busiest time of year to ensure that refuse could be cleared.

He said: “Given the way that Christmas and New Year fall this year, there will be many households without normal collections and mountains of rubbish, particularly wrapping paper and cardboard, stacking up.

“The council will not collect sidebags left beside bins, just the bins, so there will be a recycling overload even when the service resumes its normal frequency.

“I do fear that some people will take the decision to dump rubbish in alleyways or open ground in our rural areas simply to get rid of it from their homes.

“Many people do not have transport and simply cannot get to recycling points or the civic amenity tip. The pressure put on the civic tip at this time of year is enormous and the traffic queues can be prohibitive to users.”

Cllr Nicholson said the last collection in his part of Ramsgate was on December 12, with the next scheduled for January 9. He added: “That time lapse for our residents is unacceptable.”

Thanet council say that blue and black wheelie bins will be collected on January 2 and 3 in certain areas and will be taken to landfill sites; normal waste and recycling collection resumes from January 5. Paper and card collections were suspended on December 25,26 and January 1. Garden waste collections were suspended from December 25 and return from January 12.

Cllr Shirley Tomlinson, cabinet member for commercial and environmental services, said: “Arranging waste and recycling collections over the Christmas and New Year period is always challenging. This year, for the first time our refuse teams are having a whole weekend off over the Christmas period, which we know has been very welcome. I know we won’t satisfy all of the people all of the time but our staff also deserve to spend time over the festive season with their family and friends and I’m sure our residents will understand that.”