Northumberland tip opening times: 12 sites, 5 open daily

Every household waste recovery centre in Northumberland opens at 8am. Until 31 October they close at 7.30pm; from 1 November to 31 March they close at 6pm. Only five of the twelve are open every day. The other seven, including Morpeth and Ponteland, open Friday to Monday only. All twelve close on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

The quick answer

• Hours: 8am to 7.30pm until 31 October, then 8am to 6pm from 1 November to 31 March.
• Open every day: Alnwick, Ashington (North Seaton), Berwick, Blyth (Bebside) and Hexham.
• Christmas: closed on Friday 25 December and Friday 1 January. You need a Northumberland address, and there is no access on foot.

Everything below comes from Northumberland County Council’s own site pages, checked on 24 September 2026.

All twelve sites

Cramlington and Bedlington have no site of their own. The nearest every-day sites are Blyth (Bebside) and Ashington (North Seaton).

Christmas and New Year

Each site page says the centres are closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. This year both fall on a Friday, which is the first day of the week for the seven Friday to Monday sites. So at Morpeth, Ponteland, Prudhoe, Haltwhistle, Allendale, Seahouses and Wooler the Christmas weekend runs Saturday 26 to Monday 28 December, and the New Year weekend Saturday 2 to Monday 4 January.

Last year the council said the tips would be open as usual, 8am to 6pm, on every other day of the festive period, and that real Christmas trees could be brought in during normal hours and recycled with garden waste. That is from its 2025 Christmas opening hours page (Internet Archive copy, 18 December 2025). The 2026 version has not been published yet.

Sites can also close at short notice while containers are swapped or in bad weather. The council posts those on its alerts page.

The rules that get people turned away

From the council’s locations page:

• You must live in Northumberland. ID is checked and non-residents are refused.
• No access on foot at any site.
• No business or landlord waste.
• Waste brought in a wheelie bin is refused.
• Children under 16 and pets stay in the car.
• Compost is on sale at £5 per 40-litre bag.

Permits and charges

Two permits are free, and both must be booked at least 24 hours ahead on the council’s permits page or by phone on 0345 600 6400.

• DIY permit: needed for rubble, soil, plasterboard, tiles, bricks, sinks, toilets and similar. Four per household in any four weeks, each covering up to 100 litres, which the council describes as roughly two builders’ rubble sacks.
• Large vehicle permit: needed for vans up to 3.5 tonnes, trailers over 5ft and single-cab pick-ups. Twelve a year, at most three in any seven days, and a no-show still uses one up.

If a site is shut by bad weather, the permit stays valid for five days or can be used at another open site.

DIY waste over the permit limit is charged, card only, under the council’s pay as you throw charges:

Related

• Northumberland Christmas bin collections: what changes over the festive fortnight
• Northumberland bin days: bank holiday shifts, garden waste and the new recycling bins
• Northumberland roadworks and travel: closures on the way to the tip