CHENEY Manor Recycling Centre has been overrun with huge queues of frustrated motorists attempting to get rid of their green waste in the rising heat.

Yesterday saw waits of more than an hour-and-a-half along Darby Close, with many drivers giving up and turning away.

Swindon Council have said uptake for the new paid green waste collections are increasing rapidly, and plans are being drawn up for a new recycling centre in East Swindon to relieve the pressure.

Graham Goodall, 66, of Bishopstone, said he would not be returning after a number of long waits.

“I came here a week ago and it was exactly the same,” he said. “I don’t generally come to the tip but every time I come it is the same.

“This is the last time I will come, otherwise I will be tearing my hair out.”

Reg Smith, 65, of Park North, started coming to the tip to avoid the green waste charges.

“This is the first time I have started to come to the tip,” he said. “I’ve only been here three times this month, and this is the busiest I have seen it.

“I started to come because of the council’s cut backs because they won’t take the rubbish any more. That makes people bring all their grass and cuttings down here so the queues get bigger.

“Oxford have got a lot of these tips scattered all over the place but we’ve only got the one. We pay our tax so they should at least be taking our rubbish away.”

Jane Fry, 61, of Old Town, had to turn back at about 2pm after staying for more than an hour just to try and dispose of a lawnmower.

“I spent 40 minutes out on the road and then another 20 on the site,” she said.

“Once you are in there it’s very hard to get out again and I had to ask to be let out. The foreman told me to go at 7pm when it would have been quiet but that’s not the point.”

Rose Cotton, 75, of Greenmeadow, was also bringing her garden cuttings.

“I have been here for half an hour already if not more,” she said.

“They have stopped collecting green rubbish and started charging for it, so everyone comes here now. I have got green rubbish and I think you will find everyone here does.

“With the summer people are mowing their lawns every week so it’s only getting worse. It will cost the council more in the long run because they are having to put more staff on here to control the cars and they will have to clear all this stuff from the tip eventually.

“They need to stop charging and start collecting at the door again.”

Richard Hurley, cabinet member for public protection, housing and Streetsmart, said: “It could well be that this is something to do with the green waste, but what I would say is that we are up to nearly 10,000 sign ups now.

“We are at the time of the year where registrations are growing fast. We are looking at ways to alleviate the problems, perhaps with another outlet to the east of Swindon, which is in its formative stages at the moment.

“If you are going to have a bad day there it is going to be a Monday or a bank holiday. Even when we brought in the four bag rule we didn’t have more people at Cheney Manor than we did before. I would say that this is just a blip.

“The outlet to the east is in the early stages. We have real estate to the east of Swindon we are looking at. It will definitely happen, it is just a question of when.

“Cheney Manor is not an ideal place for the centre because it is right in the middle of everything.”