A petition has demanded the removal of a recycling site which residents said had turned into a rubbish tip, but councillors have rejected the move.

Councillors have instead decided to monitor the impact of a new recycling service in flats before deciding the site’s future.

Marilyn Mason, one of the organisers of the 18-signature petition against the Hawker Centre recycling centre, said: “We object to it turning into a de facto rubbish dump. People can just drive up and dump stuff. People are dumping garden waste, old mattresses and it is unsightly.

“We don’t think you have planning permission for a rubbish dump which is what it is now. Maybe you should apply for that and see if you get it.”

Councillor Chrissie Hitchcock, chairman of the Kingston town neighbourhood committee, said: “I thought it was right that we hold on until we did the flat recycling to see what impact it has on the site and make a decision then, not before we get the flat recycling in. It is not off the agenda.”

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