Council bosses have come under fire after a hazardous waste amnesty at a Norfolk tip led to long queues and heavy congestion on surrounding roads.
Delays of more than an hour were reported, with some motorists giving up and driving off.
The annual amnesties allow people to get rid of waste, which may cause harm to humans or animals, not normally accepted at recycling centres.
That includes paint, thinners, weed killer, varnishes, wood preservatives, insecticides and special cleaning products.
But, the long queues at Norwich North led to criticism.
Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at Conservative-controlled Norfolk County Council, said he gave up his Sunday morning tip trip because the roads were so clogged.
He said: "The county council have clearly grossly underestimated the demand for hazardous waste disposal facilities and were not prepared for the consequences.
"The risk is frustrated people who, like me just gave up, will just put things in their bins that shouldn’t be there."
He called for extra hazardous waste days to be provided.
But James Bensly, cabinet member for environment and waste, defended the management of the event, which saw about 1,400 vehicles visit the site.
He said: "Although there were queues, our recycling centre staff and traffic management team did an excellent job and went above and beyond to keep everything moving.
"Operations ran smoothly and we processed a lot of hazardous waste on behalf of Norfolk households.
"Over the next six weeks we have events across more of our recycling centres, and we encourage residents to check dates and avoid the sites on those weekends if they are not bringing hazardous waste to help reduce queue times."
The council is set to introduce a controversial booking system for tips from next month and Mr Bensly said that would reduce queues at future amnesty events.
READ MORE: Norfolk recycling centre waste cost changes spark anger
He said: "Our booking system coming in next month means during special events and busy weekends in the future. residents will not see the queues experienced this weekend."
The next hazardous waste days, which all run from 9am until 4pm, are:
October 12 and 13: Thetford Recycling Centre
October 19 and 20: Hempton Recycling Centre
October 26 and 27: Caister Recycling Centre
November 2 and 3: King's Lynn Recycling Centre
November 9 and 10: Dereham Recycling Centre
November 16 and 17: Norwich South Recycling Centre
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