FOR 20 years keen gardener Reg Madden has been wheeling his grass cuttings and tree trimmings to Redbridge tip using his trusty barrow.

But he has now been banned from dumping his foliage on foot... and it’s all down to health and safety fears.

To add insult to injury, Mr Madden had just invested in a new £90 four-wheeled truck to replace his worn-out wheelbarrow.

Mr Madden has lived in Wiers Lane, less than half a mile from Redbridge, for 30 years, and has taken rubbish to the site on foot since it opened.

But on his latest visit he was challenged by staff at the Oxfordshire County Council-run site.

“I went up there with the barrow and this guy came straight out. He said he would let me in this time but not after that.

“He said it was ‘health and safety’, and they could not have pedestrians walking in.

“But I went six months ago and it was fine.”

Mr Madden added: “To me it is a load of old rubbish. People can ride a push bike in with rubbish on and that is more unsafe.

Mr Madden said he could pay £35 for Oxford City Council’s garden waste collection service, but said he was quite happy to walk the half mile.

Oxfordshire County Council confirmed new rules preventing pedestrian access were now in place.

Spokesman Paul Smith said the 20-year-old site had not been built with pedestrian access, however residents had been allowed to walk in.

But he said traffic use had increased over the decades, forcing a policy rethink.

He added: “There is no pedestrian footway to enter the site and the entrance area has become more and more unsafe over the years to the point where we had to decide in early 2011 that continued pedestrian access could lead to accidents.”

Redbridge Household Recycling Centre is due to close for refurbishment once a Kidlington recycling facility is up and running next summer.

When Redbridge reopens it will be trade-only, with residents restricted to weekends and bank holidays only. County Hall has said pedestrian access will be looked at as part of that refurbishment.

Planning permission for the proposed recycling at Kidlington was due to be discussed yesterday by Oxfordshire County Council’s planning and regulation committee.

However, it was deferred to a later meeting as some site survey work is still to be completed.