SIR: I read with dismay the article in last week's Chronicle, which suggested that the Hampshire Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) may be closed if the public has the temerity to keep turning up to use them in such great numbers.

It is hardly surprising that there are such long queues at the sites after their closure for two months, a problem made even worse by restricted hours. Of all the services provided by local authorities the HWRCs are surely the easiest to make Covid safe, being outdoors, accessed by private vehicle and designed to allow self service.

Indeed, it is surprising they were not reopened much earlier, in view of the easily predictable build up of waste and the reported increase in fly tipping.

Surely it is time to significantly increase the opening times, rather than consider closure as suggested by Cllr Humby?

Mark Finlayson,

Lanham Lane,

Winchester