COUNCIL bosses have apologised after a builder was forced to do a 39-mile round trip and miss out on a morning’s work after being wrongly stopped from using a tip.

Builder Mark Tye arrived at the Shrub End recycling centre in his work van to drop off his domestic fridge.

But as he tried to enter the Essex County Council-run tip, a member of staff told him he was not allowed to drop off domestic waste using a commercial vehicle.

He said he was told the only way he could enter the site to drop off the fridge is by loading it into a personal vehicle.

But the builder, of Artillery Drive, in Colchester, only has a work van.

So instead, he was told the only way he could dispose of the fridge was by taking it to the recycling centre... nearly 20 miles away in Clacton.

Fuming Mr Tye then had to take a morning off work to complete the 39-mile round trip.

County Hall bosses have now apologised to Mr Tye and say staff will be reminded of the recycling centre’s rules.

Mr Tye said: “I couldn’t believe it when they said I wasn’t allowed in.

“I even offered to park around the corner and wheel it in but they said they wouldn’t let me do that.

“I was fuming. I could understand it if they they thought I was bringing work waste with me.

“If my van was full of debris or whatever, then fair enough but this was my fridge from home.”

He added: “The only way I could get rid of it was take a morning off work and drive to Clacton and back which is more than a 30-mile round trip as well as however much on diesel.

“I already pay my council tax to use the services don’t I?”

Recycling centre rules state vehicles weighing more than 3.5t cannot enter the site and all commercial vehicles may be inspected to make sure they are only carrying domestic waste.

A spokesperson for Essex County Council said: “We apologise to Mark for the unnecessary inconvenience he has been caused. There is no reason he shouldn’t use a van to take his household waste to Colchester Recycling Centre.

“Restrictions preventing the use of commercial vehicles are in place at some of our smaller sites but this does not affect Shrub End.

“We have spoken to staff at the site to clarify the rules to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

He added: “Our staff might stop and inspect commercial vehicles to ensure they are only carrying household waste but once that has been confirmed they will be able to access the site as normal.”

Information on what sort of waste is accepted at county council-run recycling centres is available at recycleforessex.com.