SCHEDULES for refuse collections have been confirmed for the festive period across a council area.

People in County Durham are being advised of arrangements for bin collections for the Christmas/New Year period.

Collection arrangements will remain the same for all residents whose rubbish and recycling bins are emptied on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

This includes both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, which each fall on a Thursday, when normal collections will take place.

But for those households and businesses usually served on a Friday, collections will, instead, take place on successive Mondays, December 28 and January 4.

Normal collections will resume on Tuesday January 5.

There will also be changes to the council’s bulky waste collections, which will not take place between Monday December 21 and Monday January 4.

Residents who have bulky items to dispose of are reminded that they should ensure anyone they employ who takes items away is properly licensed, to help prevent fly-tipping.

Meanwhile, householders can arrange to have their real Christmas tree collected, free-of-charge, by contacting the council, on (03000) 261000, before Friday January 8.

Residents are urged to double check their dates over the festive period and are reminded to put their bins out by 7am on the due collection day.

A bin collection calendar can be downloaded by entering the relevant post code on the council’s website, www.durham.gov.uk, on the My Durham section.

People can also visit the website for details on which items should be placed in which bin, along with advice to ensure as much waste as possible can be recycled during the festive period.