OUNTY council-run tips including the facility at Bunny Lane, Timsury will have their summer opening times cut by two hours as a cost-saving measure.

Household waste recycling centres across Hampshire will open one hour later at 9am and close one hour earlier at 6pm between March and September.

They will also open one hour later from next winter after the changes come into effect in April.

It follows a consultation with residents on a number of options to reduce opening hours.

The majority opted to open tips one hour later and only reduce opening time by one hour in the evening rather than two.

That was also backed by a cross party committee, which will re-examine the effects the new opening hours in six months.

County council environment spokesman Sean Woodward said: “I was persuaded by the fact that most residents thought it was the right thing to do and the select committee, whose job it is to advise me, persuaded me of the decision.”

However, one member of the committee, Botley and Hedge End county councillor Robert Kyrle, opposed the changes, which will give the public less time to visit the tip before or after work.

He said: “It will mean some people will not be able to access the service at all. Some people can't pay to have their goods taken away.”

Mr Kyrle said many tips were already busy and reducing opening hours in the morning and evening would cause congestion on access roads.

The changes come after a decision in November to charge residents for disposing of DIY waste which will be charged at the gate Plasterboard, soil and rubble can be dumped for a fee of about £1 or £2 per 25kg bag.

Waste fees for builders and gardeners are to be introduced to boost income but fees for them have not yet been set, although they are expected to be in line with trade prices.

Two-thirds of of residents polled in a consultation opposed this measure, chiefly because they felt they already paid for the service in their council tax.

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