A Moray recycling centre has been forced to close due to there being not enough staff to enforce coronavirus rules.
Sites across the country have been forced to introduce social distancing measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now Moray Council has reported it does not have enough staff to safely manage the recycling centre at Nether Dallachy, near Spey Bay.
The authority has announced the dump and neighbouring landfill tip will be temporarily closed to the public.
Meanwhile, large queues of vehicles have been reported queuing for the recycling centre with the line backing up close to the Beaufighter Road entrance – potentially causing delays for household bin collections.
Moray Council has warned that the queuing also poses a “real risk” to road safety.
A spokesman added: “The landfill site has had to be expanded to accommodate the creation of a new cell for residual waste, and there is increased site traffic as a result.
“The access to the site would be restricted if domestic vehicles are allowed to queue, which would slow down waste operations and the knock-on would impact upon kerbside collections.
“Finally, there is insufficient staff available to manage and ensure COVID-compliance by domestic users on site, so the decision has been taken to close the recycling centre for the time being until risks related to the pandemic restrictions are past.”
Moray Council has not announced how long the closure will be for but has stressed it is not permanent.