Police called as tempers flare in Wolverhampton tip jams
Police have been called to deal with spats between drivers as traffic jams build up at two tips in the Black Country.
Queues up to 60-cars long are forming at the Anchor Lane recycling centre in Lanesfield, Wolverhampton.
And jams at the other site in Shaw Road, Bushbury, have stretched down Bushbury Lane, Stafford Road and Showell Road.
It comes after the opening hours at both tips were slashed due to council cutbacks.
Complaints have been made to Wolverhampton City Council about the issue, with some people instead fly-tipping their waste instead of sitting in the queues.
Nearby businesses have lost trade and police have been alerted to arguments breaking out between drivers waiting to get into the tip and those trying to access other businesses.
The two tips are open five days a week from 10am to 4pm. Anchor Lane is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday and Shaw Road on Thursday and Friday.
Chris Camm works at Quality Office Supplies by the tip on Anchor Lane.
"The situation with the recycling centre is terrible. It's the worst thing in Anchor Lane.
"Last Saturday, the cars were backed up to the Black Country Route island and they were bumper to bumper.
"I went to see a customer that day and when I came back I couldn't get back to my office, the road outside was just blocked.
"I got verbal abuse from people in their cars because I had to drive down the wrongside of the road to get back to my office. One man tried to block my path with his car. Some of my girls were getting verbal abuse too. I told police officers who were walking down the lane about it."
Mrs Camm added that people were using a no through road to jump the queue.
Last year, the council scrapped 31 recycling bins outside pubs, supermarkets, shops and other premises in the city.
Queues by the Shaw Road tip have stretched down Bushbury Lane, Stafford Road and Showell Road.
Tip user Richard Warburton said the queue situation was 'complete chaos' each time he had been to one of the two tips in the past four weeks.
He added: "The new opening hours simply aren't working and the resulting queues are causing major issues for emergency service vehicles not to mention impacting in local businesses.
"I have complained to the council and am awaiting a response."
The current opening hours were previously only for winter but are now all year round. The changes were made last year.
Mike Auliffe, owner of Air Methods Limited on Anchor Lane, said his business had been badly affected by the queues.
He said: "It's ridiculous. I've have people fly-tipping outside my shop because they couldn't get in and it's been going on for years.
"The other day we lost a job because our driver couldn't get to my shop and deliver a part because of all the traffic."
Councillors have reported receiving dozens of complaints from residents and have been in touch with the local authority to call for action and a rethink over the opening hours.
Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Gulraj Kular put the recent problem down to increased use because of the Easter holidays.
He said: "Our tips have been extremely busy recently which has led to traffic issues and disruption, particularly at Anchor Lane.
"We believe this is down to the Easter holidays, a bank holiday weekend and some excellent weather coinciding, which led to people taking the opportunity to get rid of some of their waste.
"We are keeping a close eye on the situation and if the problem persists we will be taking action to address the issue."
Cutting the opening hours at the two tips was part of the cash-strapped local authority's bid to save £134million by 2019.
