I MADE the mistake this morning of combining a run to tip at Amesbury recycling centre with my Tesco shop.

The queue was ridiculous.

It stretched back from the roundabout back towards Boscombe Down in one direction, with traffic trapped on the roundabout itself (including me), and then back over the bridge over the A303.

Drivers were prevented from accessing the trading estates on both sides of the road as well as preventing people from accessing their places of work.

Through traffic was also prevented from moving through the junction. I queued for 35 minutes to gain entry to the recycling centre and took five minutes to empty all my containers. When I left the centre, the queues were just as long for people trying to get in.

The published saving from rotating two day closures of all recycling centres in the county was reported a £300,000.

The reported income from the green bin collection charge was in the region of £1million – couldn’t some of this money have offset the need to close any recycling centre or am I guilty of being naive?

Perhaps a small rise in the council tax would have taken away the necessity for these rotating closures which are creating havoc in both Amesbury and Salisbury.

I think it is time the council admitted it has made a mistake, bite the bullet and reinstate full opening days as was the previous case. May I also praise the staff at the recycling centre at Amesbury.

They are doing a difficult job under even more difficult circumstances. One person told me that they are subjected to a large amount of abuse from some members of the public.

I know it is frustration on people’s part and that the employees shrug their shoulders and get on with the job. But it is not necessary to be rude to people who have no control of council policies. Far better to say thank you and vent your spleen on Wiltshire Council.

DAVID NIVEN Durrington