Harrogate Stonefall household waste recycling centre will reopen tomorrow after a council review into traffic and safety around the site.

North Yorkshire County Council closed all of its centres as part of the national lockdown back in March but did not open Stonefall along with others in May.

Stonefall will reopen tomorrow from 8.30am to 5pm and will be operating the usual six days a week – every day except for Wednesdays.

Read more:

• Why cars queued up down the road at Penny Pot recycling centre
• When the rest of North Yorkshire’s recycling centres opened

Staff will be unable to help unload so only take items you can handle yourself and make sure you keep two metres apart.

They will not accept any hardcore, rubble, plasterboard, tyres and wastes from charities along with the other recycling centres.

Cllr Andrew Lee, North Yorkshire County Council’s Executive Member for Waste Management, said:

“We are really pleased to be able to re-open this very popular site. It is one of the busiest sites in the county, so it has taken a little bit longer to be able to open it safely. We have worked hard with our contractors, Yorwaste, to be able to reopen this site to ensure the safety of staff and the public.”

Hand sanitising facilities at sites are limited, so people are advised to wear gloves on-site and are reminded to wash their hands before and after attending.

North Yorkshire County Council will reopen a further five household waste recycling centres, including one in Ripon.

The Ripon recycling centre on Dallamires Lane will reopen tomorrow along with others in Malton, Northallerton, Tadcaster and Wombleton.

It comes after the council opened a further 14 waste recycling centres earlier this month. Penny Pot Lane in Harrogate was particularly busy with queues.

The council closed its 20 recycling centres temporarily in March. The Harrogate Stonefall centre will be the only centre to remain closed.

North Yorkshire County Council has said that it cannot the Harrogate Stonefall recycling centre just yet because of difficulties managing highway safety.

Councillor Andrew Lee, the Executive Member for Waste Management, said:

“It is great to see all but one of the sites reopening, and I would like to thank the North Yorkshire residents for their understanding, and for playing their part by continuing to recycle and dispose of their waste responsibly and only visiting the sites when they can’t store their waste at home. All the sites that have reopened so far have been managed well by our contractor Yorwaste with new controls to keep the public and staff safe. We would like to remind residents that we are currently unable to accept trailers or commercial customers at any of the sites.”