FRANZ Kafka, the author who charted the weirder side of bureaucracy, must be chuckling in his grave at the latest move by West Sussex County Council.

It used to be easy to take stuff to throw away or recycle at Shoreham’s Household Waste Recycling Site any day of the week. Then they closed the place on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Then they cut the hours it was open on other days. Then they made you identify yourself with photo ID so that it was easier to travel from one European country to another (at least before Brexit) than to get into the place with your black sacks.

And now? They’ve made you book in advance. Just like if you were going on holiday. But with black sacks rather than suitcases and sun cream!

There’s a serious point here. Rubbish disposal is an absolutely core council service. Recycling is even more important.

West Sussex County Council is running them down – and causing problems for the future. One of which will be an unwelcome increase in flytipping.

The council pleads lack of money. But that’s rich coming from a council which wasted £4 million on a bungled road maintenance contract and paid off a chief executive with a £265,000 golden goodbye.

Even a fraction of that money could have kept the Shoreham tip providing its original service.

Ian Jones

Shoreham and Southwick Liberal Democrats