HAMPSHIRE residents will be charged for disposing of DIY waste and some tips are to close at 5pm on summer evenings under plans rubberstamped yesterday.

County council environment boss Sean Woodward gave the green light to the Tory administration’s bid to save £1m that will also see business waste accepted at the household recycling centres for a fee for the first time.

It is hoped the move will boost income and reduce fly-tipping by increasing the places where waste can be disposed of.

Waste fees for builders and gardeners have not yet been set but are expected to be trade prices. DIY waste will be charged at the gate, but this will only be for asbestos, plasterboard, soil and rubble.

The fee will be about £1 or £2 per 25kg bag.

As reported on the Daily Echo’s Greenwatch pages, 66 per cent of residents polled in a consultation opposed this measure, chiefly because they felt they already paid for the service in their council tax.

The county council had originally proposed shutting one or more household recycling centres but did a U-turn after nearly two-thirds of people who responded to a public consultation opposed closures.

Cllr Woodward said only a small number of people would be bringing that sort of waste to the tip.

He said: “At the moment you have people saying to me, ‘I pay my council tax.

"Why should I pay to get rid of my bricks and rubble?’ “The question might equally be asked by the majority, ‘Why should I pay my council tax to get rid of their bricks and rubble?”’

Under the cost-cutting plans some of the lesser used tips will close at 5pm in the summer rather than 7pm.

Some could also close for an extra day a week.

But Cllr Woodward said that any changes would go before a cross-party select committee before any final decision was made.

He added: “We are not shutting any tips at all, but the savings still have to be made.

"They will be made on the back of the opening hours, occasional day closures and the DIY and builders’ waste."