Authorities have issued a stark warning after a number of incidents of physical and verbal abuse at recycling centres including in Atherton and Leigh.

FCC environment and Wigan Council are reminding local people to respect the staff working at its three recycling centres.

Behaviour described by one council boss as ‘aggressive’ and ‘abusive’ has been witnessed at Kirkless, Slag Lane and Chanters in recent months. 

FCC Environment, a recycling and waste management company that runs the centres in Wigan, has warned that physical or verbal abuse will not be tolerated.

This comes after several incidents in which staff faced intimidating and threatening behaviour from members of the public, the authority say. The council has issued a zero tolerance warning on this behaviour and is stated they will ban those who abuse staff at the centres.

Paul Barton, Director for Environment for Wigan Council, said: “With an average of 42,000 vehicles visiting our sites every month, it is great to see so many people in Wigan borough taking advantage of this offer and recycling their waste responsibly. The vast majority of people who come to our recycling centres are respectful and polite to the teams and are supportive of our and FCC’s efforts to increase reuse and recycle as much as we can.

“There are sadly a minority of residents who become aggressive when approached, staff are there to help and support our residents and should be treated with the respect they deserve. Anybody found being abusive towards staff may receive a ban from the site and could be reported to the police.”

Wigan’s Recycling Centres are located at:

Kirkless, Makerfield Way, Higher Ince, WN2 2PR,

Slag Lane, Leigh, WA3 1BZ

Chanters Industrial Estate, Atherton, M46 9BP

The centres are open seven days a week, from 8am until 7.45pm in the summer and 9am until 5.45pm in the winter, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day.