Taking rubbish to the dump will be restricted to certain days of the week from the start of next year, as part of a money-saving scheme agreed by Herts County Council today.

Cabinet members decided to keep all 17 household waste recycling centres open following a public consultation, although many will no longer operate seven days a week.

Stevenage’s centre in Caxton Way currently runs from 8am-6pm daily, but from January 2015 will be shut on Thursdays and Fridays, and operating from 10am-6pm instead. Opening hours at the weekend during the summer period may be extended, but this has yet to be confirmed.

The Letchworth facility in Blackhorse Road will continue to be open from 10am-6pm but will no longer open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

It is anticipated that cutbacks to services across Hertfordshire – which follow proposals by new contractor AmeyCespa – will result in savings of £6 million over the next eight years.

Councillor Terry Douris, responsible for highways and waste management at the county council, said: “I would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our consultation on AmeyCespa’s proposals. The consultation confirmed that residents are, in particular, reluctant to see any site closed. We promised all along that we would listen to our residents so, in light of the consultation responses, the county council has agreed that no site is closed entirely.

“Due to further significant reductions in national funding and increasing demand for key services such as adult social care and children’s services, the county council needs to save a further £147m over the next four years. I appreciate that some residents didn’t want any changes to their local centres, but we have to make financial savings. The fairest way of doing this, having considered all the consultation responses, is through changing the operational hours at all the sites.”