The advanced booking system comes into effect from Monday 2 September, and bookings can be made from today (Monday 26 August).

Use of the HWRCs remain free to non-trade South Lanarkshire residents, so there will be no charge to use the new booking system.

Bookings are not required during the period from Monday 26 August to Sunday 1 September.

It follows a successful pilot period introduced at the HWRC in Carluke in 2022, and the decision to roll it out at all HWRCs was made at the Community and Enterprise Resources Committee back in June.

Chair of the Committee, Councillor Robert Brown, said: “The reasons for trialling the booking system were to reduce waiting times, reduce queuing on adjacent roads, reduce incidents of abuse to staff and ensure that the South Lanarkshire facilities are reserved for South Lanarkshire residents.

“We believe that introducing the booking system at our other HWRCs will have the same positive impact that the trial period at Carluke has had.

“We are aware that during busy periods the congestion on roads around our centres can have a negative impact on local residents and businesses, and the new system should help alleviate that.

“Overall I hope that, once the new booking system is bedded in and people are familiar with it, it will provide an improved service for local people as it has done in Carluke.”

To book a slot from today, residents should go to the council website.