Cheshire East says the future of the council's three abandoned tip sites hasn't yet been determined but insists closing and securing them is not costing the council any extra.

The cash-strapped council closed the household waste recycling centres at Bollington, Middlewich and Poynton temporarily in August as a cost-cutting exercise and then voted the following month not to re-open them.

But as the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) revealed recently, in some cases the council is spending tens of thousands of pounds annually on mothballing some individual buildings.

Cllr Mick Warren (Ind), chair of the environment and communities committee, insisted that isn't the case with respect to the tip sites.

"Bollington, Middlewich and Poynton household waste recycling centre sites were closed in August and continue to be overseen by third party contractors under the terms of the council's current contract.

"There are no additional expenses to the council," Cllr Warren said.

Cllr Mick Warren. (Photo: Cheshire East Council).

"Once the environmental permits for these sites are surrendered back to the Environment Agency at a later date, the sites will be passed to the council's assets team to determine any future uses."

Earlier this year the LDRS revealed the council has spent a whopping £98k mothballing Bexton Court in Knutsford over the four past years.

The building has been empty since 2010, but the council only provided figures for its maintenance since 2020.