Environmentally-friendly residents must pack their recycling into cars and join long queues at one of the borough's disposal centres - because access by foot is banned.

Even those who live just yards away from the council's Factory Lane site are not allowed to take the green route and stroll over to do their bit for the environment. Instead they are forced to jump in vehicles to make the unnecessary journey instead.

And because the queues for the centre are often so bad, some residents use even more fuel and take their goods to centres in Sutton.

Paul Langton said his experience at Factory Lane - which last month introduced more recycling services - was "farcical".

When faced with a queue a third of a mile long, he chose to walk with his children and his recycling to the entrance.

"The man who greeted us was quite adamant that we would not be allowed to recycle anything unless we drove in," Mr Langton said, "I tried to make him comprehend the reason we were recycling in the first place and how driving would defeat the object but we weren't allowed in."

A Croydon Council spokesman blamed "health and safety rules" for the ban on walkers, saying the centres did not allow for the "potentially hazardous mix of pedestrians and vehicles".

He added: "This is particularly important at Factory Lane where, in addition to residents' domestic vehicles, there is regular traffic of heavy goods vehicles passing in the area that pedestrians would have to use.

"The ruling also helps prevent the dumping by traders of industrial and commercial waste that should access the facilities only via the weighbridge."

But residents said they could not understand why access for pedestrians cannot be built or why recycling bins can not be positioned away from the main vehicle entrance.

Croydon Green Party member Shasha Khan said he was "100 per cent" behind pedestrian and cycle access for people wishing to recycle.

He added: "It is ludicrous. It's another example of how the systems in place in Croydon are outdated for the present climate.

"People are much more in tune with green issues and environmental best practice and yet the system is stopping them."

However, the council said it constantly monitors the site and that pedestrian access is "one area that is regularly considered and the situation will continue to be looked at".