Macclesfield tip is already struggling to cope following the closure of the Bollington and Poynton sites and traffic is backing up on to a major road, councillors were told.

Cheshire East 'temporarily' closed the Bollington and Poynton sites in August.

The environment and communities voted by eight to five yesterday (Thursday) to make those closures permanent.

But before they made that decision, councillors heard from some objectors about the pressure the temporary closures were already having in Macclesfield.

Poynton town councillor Laurence Clarke told the meeting the closures had let to 'more traffic on the roads, with big queues outside Macclesfield tip on Congleton Road'.

There have also been reports on social media of queues stretching as far back as the Flower Pot junction.

Bollington town councillor John Stewart urged the committee to consider site-sharing Poynton and Bollington HWRC with community involvement and parish funding, rather than closing the sites.

He asked: "Was a safety risk assessment done by, or for, Cheshire East Council to determine whether that decision to mothball and potentially close local tips to funnel significant additional traffic into an ailing Macclesfield tip was a safe decision, on the third most dangerous road in Cheshire East?"

He also said there would be a massive increase in C02 emissions.

Poynton councillor Mike Sewart (Con) said according to Cheshire East's own figures 2,125 people used the Bollington site each week, 2,250 used Poynton and about 4,560 used Macclesfield.

"If demand is transferred, the Macclesfield site will need to cope with a nearly doubling of visitor numbers. Can it do it without chaos?" he asked. "I doubt it."

Resident Trevor Priestman organised a petition which was signed by more than 7,000 people across the borough, opposing the closures of the tips at Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich.

Mr Priestman told the committee yesterday: "These signatures have come not just from the people of the three towns where the closures are happening, but from residents across the whole of Cheshire East.

Cheshire East HQ, Westfields. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

"Residents that can, unlike Cheshire East Council, clearly see the impact of the damage that these closures will have on our communities and the environment borough-wide."

He added: "This petition represents the people of Cheshire East, saying no more.

"No more to a council that feels it's acceptable to punish residents for its own financial mismanagement.

"No more to seeing their council rates rise dramatically while their elected representatives take away their local services."

Cheshire East Council says it has to make cuts as the cost of its adult and children's social care spirals.

Macclesfield tip, of Congleton Road. (Image - Google)

The council is facing a £20m overspend in adult services by the end of this financial year and a £7m overspend in children's services and has to make savings of £100m over the next four years.

Shouts of 'Shame on you' and 'absolute disgrace' were vocalised by protesters to Cheshire East Council yesterday, as they voted to close Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich tips.