A recycling centre near Preston could see its opening hours cutback.

Lancashire County Council is proposing to slash the Longridge household waste recycling centres opening from seven days to five days-a-week.

It says alongside changes for Barnoldswick, Clitheroe, Burscough, Carnforth and Haslingden this would save £734,000-per-year.

Longridge’s opening hours during its operating days, which would still include weekends, would also be shortened to 9am to 5pm, a reduction of three hours each day during summer months.

Head of waste management at the county council Steve Scott said: “Lancashire County Council faces significant financial challenges and all service areas have been asked to carry out reviews and present options for savings to be made.

“The proposals being presented for consideration by the Internal Scrutiny Committee aim to make a significant saving by improving efficiency in the way our Household Waste Recycling Centres operate.

“Lancashire’s HWRCs provide an extensive service in comparison with other councils, so there is scope to make savings by aligning opening days and hours more closely with the way people use them, ensuring they are open at the busiest times, but closing them when there is less demand.”

Read more: New stricter bin collection rules come into force in Preston

‘A load of rubbish’

The proposals face criticism from the Labour opposition in Lancashire.

Labour deputy leader county councillor John Fillis said: “We brought the Household Waste Recycling Centres in house to improve the service to local communities. The Conservative Administration is now looking to cut the service, which will increase the fly tipping across the county.

“They estimate to save themselves £734,000. This is a false economy, which will just pass the costs on to the borough councils who will have to clear up the mess caused by Lancashire County Council. They are not prepared to tell people how many tonnes of waste will be fly tipped around the county as a result of these closures.

“In the end it is the people of Lancashire who will have to pick up the costs, cuts in service, and the environmental impact which will be something that future generations will pay for in the long term. The Conservative claim that Austerity is over has turned out to be a load of rubbish.

“This is another back door policy, which will be forced through the so called Scrutiny Committee. Lancashire’s consultation is a disgrace there is no open and honest debate with local people who are just left to pay more for less.”

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Do you live in Longridge? What do you think of the proposals? Let us know in the comments below