Two Norfolk tips look set to be closed down and replaced with new recycling centres nearby - at a cost of nearly £4m.

Sheringham Recycling Centre and Wymondham Recycling Centre have been earmarked for closure by Norfolk County Council.

It follows a strategic review of recycling facilities by officers at County Hall.

They said those two sites, in Holt Road, East Beckham and Strayground Lane in Wymondham, are operating close to full capacity.

Officers said those sites would not be able to cope with demands created by future housing growth, so new ones - at a cost of £1.65m and £2.2m - are needed.

At a meeting of the Conservative-controlled council cabinet on Monday (January 31), councillors will be asked to agree to declare the current sites surplus to requirements.

And they will be asked to agree to take out leases on land at Holt Road in Beeston Regis and at Spooner Row in Wymondham as sites for new recycling centres.

Officer said renting the Beeston Regis land would cost an initial £20,000 a year for 25 years, while the Spooner Row rent would start at £30,000 a year.

In the case of the Spooner Row site, there is what County Hall officers describe as a "substantial soil heap" at the location, which will cost £350,000 to clear.

Andy Grant, the council's cabinet member for environment and waste, said: “This is an important first step towards our goal of bringing better recycling centres to the communities in and around Sheringham and Wymondham.

"Sadly we’ve now outgrown the old sites so I’m pleased that we’re seeing good progress being made in identifying these potential locations for bigger and better recycling centres."

Consultation, the planning permission process and construction means it is likely to be two years before the new recycling centres are open.

Once the new recycling centres are built, the ones they replace would be closed and the sites sold on the open market.

Norfolk County Council recently spent £2.75m on a new Norwich North recycling centre near the Northern Distributor Road and £1.9m to build the new Norwich South tip at Harford Park and Ride, near the A47 bypass.