Shocked residents getting rid of clutter were thwarted last weekend (April 1) when the dump unexpectedly shut early, unable to accommodate any more waste.

St Albans Household Waste Recycling Centre on Sandridge’s Ronsons Way is run by a Amey, a contractor of Herts county council, unexpectedly shut hours early, at 2pm, because it was too full.

A local resident, who did not wish to be named, was appalled and said it was not the first time this has happened.

She believes the move would encourage fly tipping: “How ridiculous if you can’t take rubbish there and this is the season when people are clearing out.

“How on earth can you throw things away? If you can’t tip there, people will tip somewhere else.”

A spokesperson for HCC apologised for the inconvenience and emphasised containers are emptied seven days a week, throughout the day and evening: “Weekends are our busiest time and containers are emptied more frequently to accommodate this, unfortunately in this instance the site had reached capacity due to an exceedingly high level of demand.”

He encouraged people to visit during the week, adding: “On the few occasions where sites do have to close, we direct members of the public to the next nearest recycling centre.”

In this instance, the closest larger place to recycle would be The Ridgeway Car Park - but it cannot take as wide a variety of waste, including car parts, building materials, garden waste, or liquids and chemicals.

This comes after the Herts Police and Crime Commissioner, David Lloyd, promised a portion of £400,000 allocated to local authorities will be given to St Albans district council to help tackle fly-tipping, fly-grazing, and anti-social behaviour over the next four years.

It will be used in St Albans to trial number plate detecting equipment and CCTV cameras in hot spots around the area.

Of 32 fly-tippers successfully prosecuted in Herts between April 2016 and January 2017, five of those were from St Albans district.

Opening times for tips in Hertfordshire can be found here.