SOME essential council services, including community meals teams and caring staff are set to run throughout the Christmas holidays the local authority have announced.

They will work each day including Christmas Day while a number of social workers will be on duty with others on call on a 24 hour basis.

In anticipation of a cold snap, council gritting teams will be on standby and highways staff will be assisted by colleagues from the council’s grounds and waste & recycling teams if required.

Maintenance staff in the council’s Raglan Depot will also be available to ensure vehicles are fully operable while members of the Property Services team will be on call to safeguard buildings and infrastructure.

Arrangements have been made for the collection of waste and recycling over the holidays and these will be published on the council’s website at www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/recycling-and-waste for details.

No collections will take place on Christmas Day or Boxing Day so waste and recycling due to be picked up on Tuesday 25th December to Friday 28th December will be collected two days later than usual.

No collection is scheduled for New Year’s Day either, so waste and recycling due to be picked up from 1st January to 4th January will be collected one day later.

The council’s household waste and recycling centres at Llanfoist and Usk will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. They will be open from 8am to 4pm on December 24th and from Thursday, December 27th to Monday, 31st December.

The council’s leisure centres will open from 6.30am to 3pm on Christmas Eve but will close on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Thursday 27th December. They will open as usual on 28th, 29th and 30th December, with restricted hours - 6.30am to 3.00 pm – on New Year’s Eve.

All centres will close on New Year’s Day but will open as usual on Wednesday 2nd January.

The council’s contact centre will close at 3pm on Christmas Eve until it re-opens as usual on Friday 28th December, with a further closure on New Year’s Day.