by political editor Paul Francis

Opening hours and ways of raising money will be among options considered in a cost-cutting review of Kent’s 19 waste recycling centres.

The county council is to carry out the wide-ranging review over the next few months and will examine every aspect of how the sites are operated.

The council says it needs to save nearly £300,000 of the £7.4m annual costs of running the centre, which on average see three million visits every year.

But the politician in charge says it is unlikely residents will be asked to pay to take their rubbish to the household waste recycling centres.

Somerset county council this week became the first authority in the country to trial charges with residents now being asked to pay £1.20 a visit.

Cllr Bryan Sweetland (Con), KCC cabinet member for the environment, said:

"We have no plans to do that but if that is something the review suggests we look at, I am sure we will."

But he emphasised that it was not under active consideration and the key issue was not the cost of running the recycling centres but how much it cost to treat waste.

The review will consider whether the county has the right number of centres; opening times and the potential to raise more money. It will also consider whether only Kent residents should be permitted to use the sites.

The sites are hugely popular and widely used, collecting about 200,000 tonnes of recyclable material a year and accounting for more than 40 per cent of the county’s recyclable material.

Contracts for 12 of the sites are due to be renewed in 2013.