Services over Christmas

Public bank holidays for Christmas 2025 fall on the following days:

  • Thursday 25 December 2025 - Christmas Day
  • Friday 26 December 2025 - Boxing Day
  • Thursday 1 January 2026 - New Year's Day

Customer Centre

Council offices will be closed on Thursday 25 December, Friday 26 December, and Thursday 1 January.

The reception and corporate contact centre will close at 2pm on Wednesday 24 December and Wednesday 31 December. Doors will close to new customers in reception at 1.30pm on both days.

Don't forget you can reportapply or pay online.

Emergencies

Outside of our normal opening hours you can contact us in an emergency by calling 020 8871 8999.

Waste and recycling collections

We will be running a revised collection schedule from Thursday 25 December 2025 to Saturday 3 January 2026.

Normal collection day

Revised collection day

Thursday 25 December Friday 26 December
Friday 26 December Saturday 27 December
Monday 29 December No change
Tuesday 30 December No change
Wednesday 31 December  No change
Thursday 1 January Friday 2 January
Friday 2 January Saturday 3 January

Find out more about how to put your rubbish and recycling out.

Waste and recycling centres

Smugglers Way household waste and recycling centre will be open as normal over Christmas.

Christmas tree recycling

Our Christmas tree collection service will start from Monday 5 January 2026 and will run throughout the month. Trees will be collected on the garden waste collection day for your street.

Find out more about Christmas tree recycling.

Parking

Find out about bank holiday parking arrangements in the borough.

Libraries

Find out about changes to library opening times over Easter:

Sports facilities

Find out about changes to opening times of sports facilities.

Leisure centres

Opening times for leisure centres:

Registration Services

Opening hours for Registration Services.  

Date Operating hours
Thursday 25 December  Closed
Friday 26 December  Closed
Monday 29 December By appointment only
Tuesday 30 December By appointment only
Wednesday 31 December By appointment only
Thursday 1 January Closed
Friday 2 January Open 9am to 4pm

An on-call service is available on 25 December, 26 December and 2 January between 9 and 11am.

This service is for the issue of burial certificates required for a funeral that is to take place within 24 hours.

The on-call registrar will issue the burial certificate if:

  • You can provide confirmation that the burial is to take place within 24 hours
  • We have received a correctly completed medical certificate of cause of death from the Medical Examiner or Coroner
  • You are qualified to register the death

Council switchboard emergency line: 020 8871 6000.

Community spaces

Find out about Community Spaces that are open for all residents.

Children's centres and family hubs

Find out about children's centres and family hubs that are open.

Urgent support and advice

Our pages covering domestic abuse and urgent mental health help are here to support you.