Recycling centres in Cambridgeshire will once again accept sofa cushions and other furniture, after South Cambs Conservatives expressed fears a last-minute rule change would lead to an increase in fly-tipping.

Cambridgeshire County Council gave residents two days notice that it would refuse to accept upholstered seating waste - despite the council being told in August about the change to environmental regulations.

As a result, several districts across the county were forced to suspend household collection of these items.

Anthony Browne, MP for South Cambs, said: "I am dismayed at the potential for environmental damage stemming from such a simple error.

"Giving just two days’ notice for residents and councils to act, during the time of year when seasonal sales encourage sofa shopping, leaves the door open to fly-tipping across Cambridgeshire.

"It is sadly typical of the disorganisation we have seen since the Lib Dems took office. The Lib Dems need to clean up their act and get a grip."

Last week, the county council confirmed that it would accept upholstered household seating again from Saturday, January 7.

The council apologised to residents affected by the sudden temporary restrictions, while it worked with its partners on a safe disposal method.

Now an interim solution is in place for accepting items such as sofas, armchairs, cushions and beanbags, which will allow bulky waste collections offered by district councils to resume.

Steve Cox, Cambridgeshire's executive director of place and sustainability, said: "We don’t underestimate the concerns last week’s sudden announcement will have caused many of our residents, and we would like to apologise to them for that, and thank them for their patience and understanding.

"Changes to the way we are allowed to safely dispose of these items meant we were given an extremely short timeframe to deal with waste that could no longer be put into landfill, which had to be stored separately from any other waste before being incinerated.

"As a county council that traditionally doesn’t use incineration for its waste, we didn’t have an easy or immediate solution to hand."

The council thanked its contractor Thalia for working with them on a temporary solution.