Fridges and washing machine fly-tipped at charity

The items were dumped in the early hours of Tuesday morning

A charity has spoken out about a "really disappointing" fly-tipping incident at one of its shops.

Imperial Charity, which supports people with special educational needs as well as senior citizens, has two shops in Westbury, Wiltshire.

Volunteers arrived at their High Street branch on Tuesday to find two fridges, a freezer and a sofa sitting in the pouring rain.

Steve Pope, business and charity manager for Imperial Charity, said: "The scale of this fly-tipping was really disappointing to see."

Rain damage meant the goods could not be donated

He added: "My first reaction was shock. We have a regular problem with fly-tipping, but it tends to be things like small boxes of broken crockery left outside."

The fridges, sofa and washing machine could not be donated by the charity due to rain damage and the fact volunteers did not know where they originally came from.

It would have cost around £250 to remove the items, Mr Pope estimated, but fortunately the charity did not have to pay.

Mr Pope added: "Westbury Town Council stepped up and removed the items the same day. It was cleared up fairly quickly, but at great expense to the public purse.

"People don't realise the cost to charities of disposing of items which are fly-tipped. We can't use council facilities to dispose of dirty or broken items.

"We have to use commercial waste disposal and the costs are very substantial."

Mr Pope hopes the culprits of Tuesday's fly tipping can be tracked down.

He added: "The Westbury and Warminster CCTV team proactively reached out to us. One of their guys came into the shop to say they had seen the fly-tipping on camera and had the registration of the van involved."

Westbury Town Council confirmed the CCTV footage has been passed to its enforcement team.

A spokesperson said: "While this may have been intended as a well-meaning donation, we would like to remind residents that leaving items outside charity shops is classed as fly-tipping and is illegal.

"Not all items are suitable for donation, and we urge people to donate responsibly by speaking to shop staff during opening hours."