RESIDENTS on the Welsh border are being forced to add extra miles to their journey as they try to do their bit for the planet.

People living in Longtown, Ewyas Harold and Abbeydore often choose to make the much shorter trip to Abergavenny rather than Hereford for shopping and other necessities.

But now they are being stopped from using household waste recycling centres in Monmouthshire because they live over the border.

Sam Ashton lives in Longtown and said he will now have to 'utterly waste' his time and drive 19 miles further just to dispose of garden waste.

"It's frustrating, a real nonsense, but it's not just something that's happening in Monmouthshire," Mr Ashton said.

"It is our shopping town and not Hereford, it therefore makes sense to use the Abergavenny tip. To a central Hereford car park for shopping from Rotherwas is another three miles. That journey recently took me 20 minutes with the benefit of the usual pollution-enhancing traffic jam.

"We use the Abergavenny tip mostly for garden waste, we don't use bonfires which would afflict our neighbours as well as the environment."

Monmouthshire County Council, who operate the centre at Llanfoist, said 15 per cent of site users surveyed gave a postcode from outside the county, meaning an extra 3,000 tonnes of material.

A spokesperson said: "We recognise some of the decisions we make to retain services for our residents can impact on the residents of neighbouring authorities.

"We have contacted all neighbouring authorities to discuss the possibility of contributing to the costs of operating our Household Waste and Recycling Centre sites.

"This would have enabled residents on the border to use Monmouthshire sites. However, due to the complexities of recycling target apportionment and budget challenges across all councils it is not feasible at this point.

"Waste recycling targets and the funding between England and Wales is very complex and based on geographical boundaries, which makes sharing facilities very difficult."

Herefordshire Council said they would support non-residents using Monmouthshire's facilities for a charge.