Drivers were caught up in queues as they flocked to get rid of their Christmas rubbish at tips in the Black Country.

Long queues of cars snaked along Anchor Lane, Coseley, yesterday. Tips in Aldridge and Bloxwich were also packed.

Thousands of Walsall homes are without fortnightly collections over the holiday because binmen’s holidays fall on their pick-up days. Staff say the busy spell will continue for the rest of the week. Cardboard boxes and wrapping paper were the main waste people were keen to get rid of.

Bob Eccles, Anchor Lane supervisor, said: “It was particularly busy yesterday with queues into the tip all day. People started queuing at around 10am yesterday and there were still queues at 4pm.”

“It’s not as busy as it used to be in past years, mainly because there is a lot more kerbside recycling these days.

Account manager Alex Forrest-Hay, aged 35, of Penn, wanted to get rid of more than rolls of festive wrapping paper. He was there with children’s toys, prams, chairs and a barbecue before emigrating to Boston, America with wife Rachel, 32, and sons, Adam, two, and James, five.

He said: “We go over next month so we are just getting rid of things that we don’t want to take over there. I’ve already been here three times today. It’s been very busy. I was here at 10am and there were long queues.”

More than 200 tons of cardboard boxes, plastic, tins and paper will be recycled in Wolverhampton this week. Bosses at the city recycling centre in Crown Street expect an extra 42 tons of rubbish each day this week.