Lancashire County Council is urging people not to visit recycling centres unless they really need to, in light of government guidance about social distancing to reduce the transmission of coronavirus.

The county's Household Waste Recycling Centres were very busy over the weekend of 21-22 March, coinciding with a spell of fine weather, with some sites having to temporarily close at times while skips were changed.

Garstang Household Waste Recycling Centre closed from Sunday 22 March until further notice due to staffing issues related to coronavirus.

Anyone visiting the recycling centres is also advised that site staff have been instructed not to help people carry items to the skips in order to observe social distancing.

County Councillor Geoff Driver CBE, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: "We want to keep providing the recycling sites, however it's extremely concerning that the way they were being used this weekend clearly went against the vital government advice on social distancing to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

"We also had some reports of people being abusive towards recycling centre staff because the sites were so busy.

"I understand that people may have been frustrated at having to wait while skips were changed, however this type of behaviour is entirely unacceptable. Beyond this, our overwhelming concern is that visitors were putting their own and staff welfare at risk by the way they were using the service, due to not social distancing."

You can find out about impacts to services due to coronavirus at www.lancashire.gov.uk.