Sidmouth Recycling Centre could reopen soon if Devon County Council responds to comments made by Robert Jenrick, the local government secretary.

The centre, near Bowd, was one of the first services to be shut down by the county council in March - which prompted criticism of the authority with residents concerned it might lead to a spate of fly-tipping.

Yesterday (Tuesday, April 28) Mr Jenrick said he had written to councils telling them to plan to reopen tips and recycling centres.

"Our bin men and women have done a fantastic job maintaining the vast majority of collections," Mr Jenrick told the Commons.

"I'm asking councils to plan the organised re-opening of household waste collection sites. I expect this to happen over the coming weeks and will be publishing amended guidance shortly."

The local councils association has responded, a spokesperson said: "The government has now indicated that they want councils to re-open their centres and local authorities have already begun preparations to do just that in the coming weeks.

"This will not be without its challenges – requiring social distancing measures, traffic management and co-ordination across the country.

"Most importantly, there needs to be clear guidance to both the police and the public as to what constitutes an essential journey to a household waste recycling centre during lockdown."

A spokesman for Devon County Council said: " We are currently looking at how we can re-open our recycling centres safely and will do so as soon as we can in line with any change in national Government advice."