It will cost in the region of £9,000 a year to reopen the Frome Recycling Centre on a Sunday afternoon.

That was the news from Steve Read, the managing director of the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), when he made a presentation to the town's councillors at the full council meeting last Wednesday.

Mr Read had been invited to the meeting by the town council to give an update on whether the two organisations could work in partnership to extend the current hours at the recycling centre after SWP reduced them to make savings in April.

The town council has allocated £10,000 to support increasing the open hours again.

But Mr Read told councillors that it would cost in the region of £36,000 a year to fully reinstate the hours at the recycling facility and was not seen as a viable option.

However, to open the centre on Sundays would cost £9,000 which could be covered by the budget.

Mr Read said that he had been in discussion with chief executive Vernon Anderson, who was enthusiastic about improving the situation and he was happy to discuss the issue but would not be able to make a decision as he would have to go back to the SWP board.

He added that the board had said they had seen savings and there were no recommendations to close any more centres or reduce the hours.

He said: "If this is something that you want to continue with, then I will go back to the board and see if this is something they wish to pursue."

Councillor Graham Burgess (IfF, Berkley Down) asked whether Somerset County Council was responsible for clearing fly-tipping.

Mr Read said that if there were additional costs for fly-tipping Mendip District Council, which clears it, would be able to claim the funds back from the county council.

But he said to the best of his knowledge reported cases of fly-tipping had reduced.

Councillor Peter Macfadyen (IfF, Frome Oakfield) asked Mr Read if there was an option to sell what is brought along and dumped in the skips.

He answered that SWP was looking into the option of re-use centres on some of the sites and this was something they were taking very seriously.

Frome Town Council is also looking into enhancing the street cleaning operation and dedicated recycling bins.

A further report is expected in the coming months to finalise the details.