QUEUES of cars were bumper to bumper as residents rushed to use a newly re-opened tip.

Dovercourt Recycling Centre was finally reopened last Friday by Essex County Council after nearly four months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the clamour to get rid of garden waste and other recyclable items saw West End Lane, which leads up to the recycling centre, blocked by long queues of traffic.

Some cars were left waiting in Main Road as the queue spilled out.

Dave Hatch, who parked his car at the beach near the recycling centre on Tuesday, said he was shocked by the length of the queue for the tip.

He said when he returned to his car after taking his dogs for a walk on the beach, he could not get out of the car park due to the queue clogging up the road.

Mr Hatch added: “People who were going to the tip were parked in a narrow part of the road so no-one could get in or out.

“A council official had to move them as he could not get to work.”

Mr Hatch claimed he was told the queue to the recycling centre went down to Main Road on Monday, with many people giving up and turning around.

He added: “I suggested weeks ago they should have 30 minute time slots for certain number of people.”

Another resident who has suggested a booking system for rubbish disposal is Harwich county councillor Ivan Henderson.

Mr Henderson had been putting pressure on Essex County Council to reopen the facility with social distancing rules in place since May.

He said: “A booking system was proposed but that was refused by Essex County Council.

“I have gone down to the recycling centre several times and have spoken to workers.

“People do have to be patient as it only reopened last week.”

“Some people are waiting until it has been open for a little while longer to use it.”

Following the Government’s announcement about easing lockdown measures Essex County Council reopened the facility along with five others which had been closed since March 24.

To ensure the safety of residents and site staff, several new restrictions and social distancing measures have been put in place.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “Since the beginning of the week the site has got noticeably busier.

“Although it should be noted that this site, during normal peak times, can have queues stretching the length of West End Lane and back on to Low Road.

“We are aware that on Monday there were at times lengthy queues, although this generally coincided with the need to close the site to the public to remove full containers.”