Christmas opening hours

Our offices will be closed for Christmas from 5pm Wednesday 24 December 2025 until 9am Monday 5 January 2026.

Some of our services will still run an on-call service over the festive period.

While our offices are closed you can still apply for a service, tell us about something, make a booking or make a payment on our website.

Council Tax, benefits and business rates service

Our Council Tax, benefits and business rates service will be closed from 3pm Wednesday 24 December 2025 until 10am Monday 5 January 2026.

You can view your Council Tax and benefits details online using My Bentax. You can also visit our Council Tax, benefits and business rates webpages for more information.

Bin collections and waste

There are changes to some household bin collections over the festive period, so your bin may be emptied on a later day than usual. There are also changes to some business waste collections. Find out about Christmas bin collections.

Requests for bulky waste collections are suspended from Sunday 14 December 2025. We'll resume taking new requests for these from Sunday 28 December 2025.

Household waste recycling centres (tips)

Our household waste recycling centres are open every day except Christmas Day (25 December), Boxing Day (26 December) and New Year's Day (1 January).

On Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year's Eve (31 December) they close earlier than normal at 3pm.

Libraries

All of our local branch libraries will close on 24 December 2025 and reopen from Friday 2 January 2026 inline with their usual opening hours. Find a library to view the opening times for each branch.

Library @ the Lightbox will be open between Christmas and New Year. See our Library @ the Lightbox webpage for the opening hours.

You can still access eBooks, eAudio and digital resources through the Libby app.

Pest control

Our pest control service closes at 5pm on Wednesday 24 December 2025. It will be open but running a reduced service from Monday 29 to Wednesday 31 December. Normal opening hours resume from Friday 2 January 2026.

Registration services (births, deaths and marriages)

Our registration service closes at 2pm on Wednesday 24 December 2025. Between Christmas and New Year our registrars will be running a limited service between Monday 29 and Wednesday 31 December. The service will close again at 2pm on Wednesday 31 December. Normal opening hours resume on Friday 2 January 2026.

There are limited appointments to register a birth during the festive period. Appointments after this will be from 5 January 2026 onwards.
Death registrations will be taking place at the Town Hall by appointment only on 23, 24, 30 and 31 December 2025. You don't need to contact us to book an appointment. We'll contact you to arrange this.
There are limited appointments to give notice of marriage/civil partnership during the festive period. Appointments after this will be from 2 January 2026 onwards.
Copy certificates ordered after 12pm on Thursday 18 December won't be posted until after Monday 5 January 2026. This applies to both our standard and priority service. You can choose to collect your certificate from the Register Office in the Town Hall if you prefer. The office is closed on weekends and bank holidays. Between Christmas and New Year the office is open on 29 and 30 December from 9am to 4pm and 31 December from 9am to 2pm.

Pet crematorium

Our pet crematorium service will be closed on Christmas Day (25 December), Boxing Day (26 December), New Year's Day (1 January) and Friday 2 January. It will be open for collections on Wednesday 24 December and Wednesday 31 December only.