Complaints over fly-tipping have led to Bradford Council withdrawing recycling collection points across the district.

The Council used to operate numerous 'Bring sites' - mini hubs where people could bring their recyclable goods. Many of them were based in supermarket car parks.

But it has been revealed that the Council has now removed all its recycling facilities from these sites.

A report being discussed by Councillors tonight reveals that one reason for the removal of the facilities was that they were often plagued by fly-tipping.

One in particular, in the car park of Morrisons on Mayo Avenue, was so misused that managers at the store asked the Council to close the site.

Until recently, there were over 40 Bring Sites across the district, and a report into Bradford waste management released just a month ago said: “The Bring Sites provide a valuable service to residents who do not have room for recycle bins, they also reinforce the message that Bradford Council is trying to make it as easy as possible for all residents to recycle.”

Although the Council-run sites have now been removed, the authority says some privately run sites were still operating. And the authority says recent changes to recycling collections meant it was easier than ever for people to recycle, and that it was no longer “viable” to run those sites. The details are included in a report into the management of waste and recycling activities within the District, which is being discussed by the Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee tonight.

The report says: “There have been many instances of fly-tipping at these sites and the recycling banks were not always being used in the correct way. We received a number of requests to remove them and we were requested by the Management of Morrisons, Mayo Avenue, to close this site because of persistent fly-tipping. We then looked at the costs associated with providing this service – the vehicles, the recycling banks, collection and disposal of the waste.

“Following the introduction of alternate weekly collections and the provision of free recycling bins to residents along with the recycling facilities available at the household waste recycling centres, the provision of Bring sites was no longer considered viable. The Council has therefore now removed all their recycling banks from Bring sites.”

A spokesman for the Council said: “Bradford Council removed its own receptacles from ‘bring’ sites around 12 months ago. There are still bring sites at various locations in the district but these are collected by private companies, not Bradford Council.

“The overall savings from removing Bradford Council receptacles from bring sites is subsumed in the overall waste management budget.”

The Committee meets in City Hall at 5.30pm.