Powys householders who want to use Land Rover Defenders to take domestic waste and recycling to household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) will need to apply for a permit, the county council has said.

Powys County Council (PCC) has operated a commercial vehicle or trailer (CVT) permit scheme at its HWRCs since September 2017.

It said it was introduced to allow residents with commercial type vehicles or trailers to access the recycling centres while allowing the council to control the illegal deposit of commercial waste, which would otherwise be at the expense of the council taxpayer.

PCC has made an amendment to the CVT permit policy which requires owners of all models of Land Rover Defenders to obtain a permit to use the recycling centres. It said this change "removes the ambiguity" around these vehicles and ensures that all variations of Land Rover Defenders are treated fairly and consistently across the county.

Adrian Jervis, the council’s head of highways, transport and recycling, said: “The CVT permit scheme has been a real success for the council since it was rolled out in September 2017. The permits are free of charge, the application process is quick and easy for residents and since the process has moved online we are now able to approve and issue electronic permits within the same day as we receive applications.

“In order to ensure that the service is fair we now require all models of Land Rover Defenders to obtain a permit. While this change might inconvenience a small number of people, it won’t prevent anyone from using our recycling centres.

“CVT permits allow residents to visit the sites up to 12 times a year which should be ample to allow everyone to recycle their household waste that cannot be collected at the kerbside. Residents are of course able to recycle common materials like paper, card, glass, cans and plastics through their weekly kerbside collection as well as garden waste through the new fortnightly service.”

Applications for CVT permits can be made online at https://en.powys.gov.uk/cvt and residents can also sign up to the new garden waste collection service at https://en.powys.gov.uk/gardenwaste