Essential services to continue while bin collections changed and leisure facilities close as mark of respect for royal funeral

Published: Wednesday, 14th September 2022

Essential services that support vulnerable people will continue during the bank holiday next Monday (19 September) to mark the funeral of our late Sovereign Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has confirmed that social care services for adults and children will continue to take place as usual, with registration services for residents who already have appointments for births, deaths and marriages also continuing, if those residents wish to proceed with them.

Bin collections will temporarily be suspended for the day, with households that are due for collection on Monday asked to put their bins out this Saturday, 17 September instead. This means that Monday grey bin collections for Bentilee, Cobridge and Burslem and surrounding areas, blue bin collections for Abbey Hulton, Middleport and Burslem and surrounding areas, and recycling boxes for households that don’t have blue bins in Tunstall and the surrounding area will all have their collections two days early, this Saturday. The tips at Hanford and Federation Road, Burslem will also be closed. Council-run leisure centres, libraries and museums will temporarily close for the day, as will Hanley indoor and outdoor markets, and council offices.

Council leader Abi Brown said: “It’s been incredibly moving to see how residents and businesses across the city have come together to pay their respects to Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II and it is clear how she has touched the lives of so many people in Stoke-on-Trent.

“Monday will be a monumentally sad day for the whole country and Commonwealth, and the national declaration of a bank holiday means that we can all pause, recollect and take time to follow the funeral proceedings in our own way.

“During this day, most council services will operate as they would during other bank holidays. Our every effort will be placed on ensuring that vulnerable people in our city who need our help the most continue to get the services that they rely on. And I’d like to thank in advance our social workers and other essential teams who will be working on Monday.

“We ask residents for their patience and understanding in these exceptional circumstances.”

Privately operated bus services in the city will be running a reduced timetable on Monday, with First Bus operating its Sunday service and D&G Bus doing likewise, with the exception of its 100 service to Hanley-Trentham-Barlaston-Stone, which will operate a Saturday service as it usually does on bank holidays.