The household waste transfer station in Maidstone is the most popular of all 18 run by Kent County Council.

Since Covid, the authority has introduced an online booking system at its waste transfer stations to space out the number of visitors to a socially distanced acceptable level.

This morning, it was still possible to book a slot at 14 of the sites for this Friday, August 28, while if you were prepared to travel to Faversham there were slots available on Thursday.

At Folkestone, the earliest vacancy was on Saturday, and at Tunbridge Wells it was on Monday.

However, the Maidstone site in Burial Ground Lane, Tovil, is booked through until Tuesday, September 8.

Residents are allowed to use waste transfer stations other than the one nearest to them but it may mean that with the Bank Holiday Weekend approaching - a traditional time for people to have a clear out - residents in Maidstone may have to drive their rubbish much further than usual to dispose of it.

KCC has recognised that the Tovil tip is extremely popular and has already developed plans to create a new waste transfer station for the area, which will be at the 20/20 business park in Aylesford.

Currently, those wishing to use a tip must select one of five available time slots during the day - with motorists given a 75-minute window to arrive. In between slots, the tips are closed for 15 minutes for cleaning.

There are KCC waste transfer stations at Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Deal, Dover, Faversham, Folkestone, Herne Bay, Maidstone, Margate, New Romney, Pepperhill, Richborough, Sevenoaks, Sheerness, Sittingbourne, Swanley and Tunbridge Wells.

Residents are limited to two tips visits per calendar month.

There are charges to dispose of some particular types of waste: see here .

Each year Kent’s household waste sites, which were closed in March in response to the coronavirus outbreak , receive approximately 185,000 tonnes of waste and 3.5 million visits.

The centres were reopened in May , when the new booking system was announced.

To book a visit to a waste transfer station, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone