At least one of Bucks’ recycling centres could be shut down as the county council looks to slash its spending on the running of the service by £1.2 million amid huge “financial pressures”.

Although all ten centres across the county are “extremely popular”, Bucks County Council says it cannot continue to provide the service as it is now and wants to shut down either the Bledlow Ridge or the Burnham centres – or both.

It currently costs £3 million a year to run and maintain all the centres – and the county council wants to reduce this by £1.2 million.

A raft of other plans will also be considered – including reducing the number of open days at Chesham, Burnham and Aylesbury sites from seven days a week down to five and introduce charges at all sites for some types of rubbish.

Residents from outside of Bucks using the county’s recycling centres could also be charged for disposing of all types of waste – or they could be prevented from using them altogether.

The number of charity re-use shops could also be increased. There are currently two – one in High Wycombe and one at Aston Clinton.

County council cabinet member for planning and environment, Bill Chapple OBE, said the review was a “reluctant but necessary step” – and that Bucks already has a higher number of sites serving its population compared to other areas.

The centres currently take certain waste like rubble, soil, plasterboard and car tyres for free where other councils would charge.

He said: "We have an extremely tough budget to meet from April 2019 onwards and this means facing up to some difficult decisions. There definitely needs to be changes, but my overall aim is to retain a service that still works for the majority of people going forward.

"There is a proposal to permanently close at least one site, with the preferred option being Bledlow.

“We’re also proposing to introduce charging at all sites for specific waste that we don't legally have to accept for free. I completely understand that people don't like being faced with extra charges, however, I have taken into account the fact that less than a third of waste falls into this category, so the charges won't affect everyone and it also brings us into line with what other councils do.

"Of course, there are other areas where we have genuine choice and that's where an open and honest consultation is so important.

“For example, we’re looking for views on which two weekdays people would prefer Burnham, if this site remains open, Chesham and Aylesbury to be closed on, and also what Buckinghamshire residents think about people from outside the county using our recycling centres, which is of course an extra cost to local county taxpayers."

An eight week consultation starts today (August 28) and will run until midnight on October 22.

See democracy.buckscc.gov.uk/mgConsultationDisplay.aspx?ID=7402 to take part in the consultation.

A decision is expected to be made by cabinet later in the year.

The schedule of 'drop-in' events:

Bucks County Show (BCC stand) - Thursday, August 30 - 8am-6pm

High Wycombe library - Friday, September 7 - 10am-1pm

Princes Risborough library - Tuesday, September 11 - 10am-1pm

Burnham library - Thursday, October 4 - 10am-1pm

Chesham library - Monday, October 8 - 2-5pm

Beaconsfield library - 11th Oct - 10am-1pm