These are the changes to key services across Suffolk over the Christmas period

Christmas is a time for festive cheer and spending time with family and friends.

But if you're not careful, you can be caught out by some of the changes brought in around bin schedules, library opening times and more.

So Suffolk News has looked at changes to key services over the holiday period and has compiled a comprehensive list.

Library opening times

Suffolk Libraries will close its libraries on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, December 27, 28 and January 1 and 3.

All their libraries will be closing at 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

For more information on which libraries will be affected, click here.

Bin collections

West Suffolk Council are urging residents to check the date their bins will be emptied this Christmas and New Year period as rounds will come later than normal.

A council spokesperson said crews will be working on Saturdays to make up the time for missed bank holidays, and that rounds will be normal from January 24, 2022.

Residents are also being asked to recycle as much as they can to help reduce waste and use local recycling centres.

For exact dates, West Suffolk residents can go online and put their postcode into a checker to see when their bins will next be emptied.

East Suffolk residents will experience no changes to bin collections during the festive period this year.

However, the council are urging people to make sure they leave their bins out on their normal collection days by 6am latest.

They are also asking for residents to be mindful of their waste this year as an estimated 125,000 tonnes of plastic packaging and 83km2 of wrapping paper is thrown away in the UK every Christmas.

Ipswich residents will experience no changes to their black or blue bin collections over the holidays, but the brown bin service will be paused for two weeks after Christmas.

Brown bin collections will take place as normal week commencing December 21. There will be no collection between December 28 and January 10.

Collections will begin again as normal from January 11.

To check your collection day, visit the council website here and search your street name.

In the Babergh and Mid Suffolk districts, collections will take place as scheduled, until Christmas Day.

Then, from December 27 to January 22, refuse and recycling collections will be amended as a result of public holidays.

Bins due to be collected on December 27, 28 and 29 will be collected two days later. Bins due to be collected on December 30 and 31 will be collected five days later.

Those scheduled to be collected on January 3, 4, and 5 will be collected 3 days later, while those due on January 6 and 7 will be collected four days later.

Bins due to be collected between January 10 and 13 will be delayed by two days, and on the 14 they will be delayed by three days.

Between January 17 and 21, bin collection will be delayed by one day.

Transport

Greater Anglia are running a reduced service over the Christmas break.

There will be no services on Christmas Day and on Boxing Day the only services operating are some Stansted Express services.

On Boxing Day, the Stansted Express will run between Tottenham Hale and Stansted Airport. Greater Anglia tickets will be accepted on Transport for London's Victoria Line between Tottenham Hale and Kings Cross and on the Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan Lines between Kings Cross and Liverpool Street.

On December 27 and 28 rail replacement bus services will operate between Shenfield and Colchester; Braintree and Witham; Marks Tey and Sudbury.

For more information on train and coach services, click here.

Postal services

Royal Mail have a useful explainer on their website on what postal services are available in the run up to Christmas.

For more information, click here.

Gyms

Abbeycroft Leisure, which runs gyms across Suffolk, has published information on their website about opening hours over the festive period.

All of their centres are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and News Years Day but some are open with amended hours over the break.

For the full list, click here.