Rubbish and recycling collections will not take place in Cornwall on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, with residents having to wait an extra week in some areas.

It means an early practice run for some households, including Helston, ahead of fixed fortnightly rubbish collections being introduced across Cornwall in mid 2020.

Rubbish due to be collected on Christmas Day this year will instead be collected on January 1, while recycling and garden waste will be taken on Saturday, December 22.

If your collection was to have been Boxing Day, rubbish will not be picked up until January 2, although recycling and garden waste should be put out for collection on Saturday, December 29.

The timing of collections may be different to usual, but as long as the waste is out by 7am on the revised day Cornwall Council has promised it will be collected.

All other collection days this week remain unchanged.

If you really can't wait that long, however, Household Waste and Recycling Centres are open every day from 9am to 4pm, apart from Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Anyone who would like the council to collect their real Christmas tree for composting this year (up to a height of 6ft) need to register for this service by 12pm on Friday, January 4 at www.cornwall.gov.uk/christmas. Trees will be collected between January 7 and January 18, on the opposite week to your normal recycling collection.

Cornwall Council is also urging households to think "reduce, reuse and recycle" this festive period, after last year homes in the county threw away an extra 2,087 tonnes of rubbish.

Waste collection statistics revealed there was a 19 per cent increase in rubbish put out on bin days in January across Cornwall compared with the monthly average.

The council has now put together some tips about how to reduce the environmental impact of Christmas -

Reduce:

• Ultimately the best way to cut waste is to not buy something in the first place. Tempting as sales shopping might be, don't be swayed by massive discounts - you're only saving money if it's something you wanted or needed.

Reuse:

• Christmas wrapping paper and gift bags - if the wrapping paper and bags are still in good condition, why not save them for next year?

• Christmas cards - the pictures on cards can be turned into gift tags for next year's Christmas presents. You can find lots of creative ideas online.

Recycle:

• Pots, tubs, trays, card, paper, tins, foil, real Christmas trees - all can be recycled as part of household waste collections.