RENEWED calls have been made to increase the opening hours at Newport tip to prevent “traffic chaos”.

Conservatives in Newport have again slammed the operating hours at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC), in Docks Way.

They claim that the current opening times are contributing to congestion and other problems including fly-tipping.

The centre is open from 7.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Leader of Newport City Conservative group, Councillor Matthew Evans, said: “Increasingly more people cannot get to the site or are stuck in long queues.

“I have even witnessed someone fly-tipping because the place was closed. There is no excuse to be fly-tipping, though.

“But we need to be more accommodating to the public.

“In terms of traffic, I know Saturday was particularly bad around the site.”

It is thought that drivers were waiting for an estimated 40 minutes to access the site due to the volume of traffic.

Cllr Evans is calling for the site’s opening hours to be increased. “I think having the site’s opening hours increased to 6pm would help the situation,” he said.

“It is unacceptable that residents have to suffer when others in different authorities have better access to a tip.”

Conservative activist Michael Enea echoed similar sentiments, saying: “There were about 40 vehicles queuing up the Southern Distributor Road on Saturday. They were waiting for around 40 minutes.

“It was absolute carnage. I have campaigned for sometime to get Newport’s tip open longer in the summer months. Most other Welsh Councils will open until 6pm or 8pm.”

A Newport City spokeswoman said: “The council did alert people to the later opening of the household waste recycling centre on Sunday because of the Velothon through its various channels.

“We appreciate the site is more busy on weekends, especially during the summer, and, as all members should be aware, there is a proposal in the corporate plan to open a second HWRC on the other side of the city. We are exploring potential options for this as well as considering improvements to the Docks Way site."

But she added the opening hours "should not be used as an excuse or an explanation for fly-tipping".

"This is a crime and blights the environment," she said. "Offenders will be prosecuted if we have the evidence and we would encourage people to report incidents to the council.”