Mile long queue pictured at Northamptonshire tip on opening day
Cars have been waiting for hours this morning as six waste centres reopen across the county for waste that could cause "health issues"
Traffic has been heavily backlogged this morning and has stretched for at least a mile from the Brixworth Household Recycling Centre on opening day.
Traffic wardens have been seen wearing hi-vis vests and walking in between cars to tell motorists the waiting time as vehicles sit on the road in a slow bid to get inside.
It comes as six of the county's nine waste recycling centres have been unlocked after eight weeks of closure during the Covid-19 lockdown for household rubbish that could cause "health issues."
Northamptonshire Police will be patrolling areas around the six tips at Ecton Lane, Brixworth, Corby, Wellingborough, Daventry and Towcester where the numbers of cars on the sites will be strictly limited to maintain social distancing.
Three more tips at Sixfields, Kettering and Rushden will be opening later in the week.
Only one person is allowed out of their vehicle and workers are not able to physically help by carrying rubbish as they would normally do.
County councillor Jason Smithers, cabinet member for highways and place, has said those not taking essential rubbish to the tips risk being turned away.
He said: "If you've done a DIY project and you've got a sink sitting out in the garden, that's not going to cause any health issues.
"So just leave that until the lockdown restrictions come further down the Government scale.
"If it does get really busy and starts posing a safety risk to other highway users, then we will close the centres down for an hour or two hours to clear the backlog."
Northants' nine HWRCs will be open from 10am–6pm on their usual opening days as follows:
Monday: Brixworth, Corby, Daventry, Ecton, Towcester, Wellingborough.
Tuesday: Corby, Daventry, Sixfields, Wellingborough.
Wednesday: Kettering, Rushden, Sixfields.
Thursday: Brixworth, Ecton, Kettering, Rushden, Towcester.
Friday: Brixworth, Corby, Daventry, Ecton, Kettering, Rushden, Sixfields, Towcester, Wellingborough.
Saturday and Sunday: Brixworth, Corby, Daventry, Ecton, Kettering, Rushden, Sixfields, Towcester, Wellingborough.