Tips may start charging for some types of rubbish and ask everyone who uses them to prove that they live in Brighton and Hove.

Councillors are looking at charging people to dispose of soil, tyres and building waste at the tips off Old Shoreham Road, Hove, and Wilson Avenue, Brighton.

Several councils already charge people to dispose of some waste – and demand proof of identity (ID) to ensure that those who bring any rubbish to a tip come from the local area.

Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Anecdotal feedback suggests the Hove site is busier on Mondays and Tuesdays when West Sussex’s Shoreham site is closed.”

West Sussex County Council already carries out ID checks and East Sussex County Council charges £2 a tyre and £4 a bag for rubble, soil, plasterboard and asbestos.

A report to Brighton and Hove councillors said: “Presently, checks only take place for van users to ensure they are residents of the city and to ensure they are not disposing of trade waste.

“Introducing ID checks for all users will ensure it is only residents of Brighton and Hove using the sites.

“Checks routinely take place at West Sussex County Council sites.

“While a November 2019 residency check identified a small number of people crossing the city boundary to use the Brighton and Hove household waste recycling sites, it does mean our taxpayers are paying to dispose of non-Brighton and Hove residents’ waste.”

The report, to the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said that ID checks were expected to ease traffic, especially at the tip in Hove.

As a result, the traffic marshalling could end – and cars and vans may once again be able to turn right into St Joseph’s Close from Old Shoreham Road.

The report also said that more than a third of councils already charged for “non-household” waste.

It added that bringing in charges “would align Brighton and Hove City Council with several close neighbours such as East Sussex, Kent and Surrey”.

The service would not be profit-making, according to the report, but was expected to bring savings of about £150,000 a year.

And it said that savings would be ringfenced and spent on “recycling initiatives such as plastics and food waste”.

When charges were brought in by East Sussex County Council two years ago, some were worried about an increase in fly-tipping but the number of incidents has remained roughly the same.

The report said: “Eight mobile CCTV cameras have been installed across the city to deter people from fly-tipping.

“The cameras will be used to identify fly-tipping of soil, hardcore, plasterboard, bonded asbestos and tyres.”

The report also said that the council was required to provide residents with reasonably accessible rubbish and recycling tips “for the free disposal of household waste”.

But it was not required to accept other types of waste without a fee, including the rubbish left over when people carried out building work, repairs and landscaping at home.

It currently did take other waste without a fee – and councillors are being asked to approve a consultation about the principle of charging for taking soil, hardcore, plasterboard, bonded asbestos and tyres.

The public consultation, if approved, would also ask about requiring everyone who took rubbish to the tips – not just van drivers – for proof of ID.

If councillors agree to a consultation, identity checks are planned during the consultation period to gather further data, with the aim of bringing all the results back before councillors in the spring.

The council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee is due to reach its decision at a “virtual” meeting starting at 4pm next Tuesday (24 November). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council website.