Villages
Skip hire in Topsham
Topsham is in the Devon County Council highway area. A skip on the public road needs that council’s licence – the hire firm applies, not you. A skip wholly on a private drive you control does not. This page is placement and waste rules, not a list of firms.
About Topsham
Topsham sits on the east bank of the River Exe in the Exeter district, just north of where the Exe meets the River Clyst and the estuary. It was a historic port with a royal charter as a town from Edward I in 1300, and it was formally amalgamated into the City of Exeter in 1966.
About 4,100 people lived there at the 2021 census; Exmouth lies downstream and Exeter upriver.
Skip Clerk does not invent provider rankings, phone numbers or “top skips in Topsham”. Check the carrier’s CBDU number, then ask who will apply for the road licence.
Which authority
Devon County Council is the highway authority. Full permit detail: Skip permit: Devon County Council. On that page (checked 15 September 2026; live council page still lists these figures): £110.50 standard (10 or more working days’ notice), emergency £166, extension £87, site visit £103.95, at least ten working days’ notice, maximum 28 days, skip providers only with Chapter 8 competence and £5 million public liability. Do not invent a different fee. County map and the Torbay / Plymouth unitaries: Skip hire in Devon.
Private drive vs road
- Wholly on a driveway or other private land you control: no highway licence from Devon County Council.
- Any part on the public road or highway: yes. The hire firm applies.
- Pavement: you cannot put a skip there. National rule: Do I need a skip permit?.
Local notes
Topsham’s Fore Street and the lanes down to the Exe are narrow and often parked. Prefer a private drive or yard; estuary-edge access needs clear turning space for the lorry.
Devon County Council’s chargeable-waste page gives each household a limited free DIY allowance at recycling centres: four single visits in any four-week period, with either up to two rubble bags you can lift yourself, or one single unbagged item up to two metres long. Excess soil and rubble is listed at £4.10 a bag or item; clean plasterboard at £7.60 a sheet or bag. Own-home DIY only; paid contractor waste is not accepted on that free path. Source: Devon chargeable waste. Plasterboard is not accepted at Totnes or South Molton centres.
How to hire without a fake directory
- Decide the size from the job – What size skip do I need?.
- If it has to sit on the road, tell the firm you are in the Devon County Council area and ask them to apply. Give them more than ten working days.
- Ask for the waste-carrier number and check it – how to check a waste carrier licence.
- Keep plasterboard, electricals and sofas out of a mixed skip unless the operator says otherwise – what you cannot put in a skip.
Skip Clerk has no hire partners yet and no prices for skip hire on this page. The £110.50 figure is Devon County Council’s published permit fee, not a hire quote. When we add a booking link it will be marked as an affiliate link.
Sources
- Wikipedia: place overview – parish, nearest town and character for the About section. CC BY-SA.
- House of Commons Library CBP-8322 settlement classification – Village class; not one of the 1,174 small/medium/large towns.
- Skip Clerk: Skip permit: Devon County Council – £110.50; 10 working days; 28 days; providers only.
- Devon County Council: apply for a skip licence. Checked 15 September 2026.
- Devon County Council: chargeable waste – DIY allowance and excess charges (figures as published on the Devon hub page).
- Skip hire in Devon – three authorities, not one.
- No invented provider list, hire prices or permit fees on this page.