NEW charges are to be introduced for disposing DIY waste at tips in Oxfordshire despite concerns about fly-tipping.

Oxfordshire County Council, which runs the county’s household waste recycling centres, proposed the charges as part of its plans to hand more control to private contractors from October 2017.

Yesterday the county council’s cabinet approved the procurement of a new contract to run the centres, which could see people charged between £2 and £4 for DIY items such as rubble, construction wood, kitchen units, doors and baths.

At the moment it is free to dispose of the first three items of DIY waste and another 10 can be dumped for £1 each.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting Labour councillor Steve Curran said: “We need to ensure the cost is kept as low as possible because changes will affect fly-tipping.

“We need to ensure these charges do not encourage fly-tipping any further than already exists both with household and commercial waste.”

The council has also proposed allowing a 25 per cent cut to opening times – excluding weekends.

But cabinet member for finance Lawrie Stratford said the vast majority of people who used tips would still be willing to do so.

He said: “The most consistent fly-tippers would tip anyway, even if the centres were open 24/7.

“They are the same people every time and they are just lazy.”

The county council had originally proposed closing half the county’s tips but has since said none will shut for at least seven years.

Cabinet member for public health Hilary Hibbert-Biles said: “In my area if you had to pay £1 or £2 for somewhere to take their waste that would be acceptable.”