Non-residents could be barred from Hertfordshire’s tips after it emerged half the centres' users aren't local.

Hertfordshire County Council data revealed 48.8% of people using the Rickmansworth centre in Riverside Drive come from outside the county.

Clamping down on the problem could save £433,000 in 2024/25, the council said, if the cabinet chooses to press ahead with the decision after a meeting on Monday, March 20.

Figures also showed that more than half of the people who use recycling centres at Bishop’s Stortford and Royston also do not live in Hertfordshire.

A meeting report said: “The data suggests ‘net’ use of Hertfordshire recycling centres by non-residents is in excess of 20 per cent and rising.”

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The council noted that authorities in Enfield, Harrow, Hillingdon, Buckinghamshire, Central Bedfordshire, and Essex all restrict non-residents, but Cambridgeshire and Barnet do not.

“It is not possible to determine exactly where site users have originated from in the dataset provided,” the meeting report reads.

“It is likely that a proportion of non-residents live closer to a Hertfordshire recycling centre than those provided in their own administrative area and may therefore need to travel further.”