Charity's anger over furniture fly-tipping (From South Wales Guardian)

Charity's anger over furniture fly-tipping

10:00am Saturday 27th October 2012 in News

SO much furniture was dumped outside an Ammanford charity shop that staff couldn’t get into the building to open up.

Items of furniture including an old sofa, a wardrobe, TVs, an electric fire, a bed and mattress were left outside Barnardo’s in Carregaman one evening when the shop was closed.

Not only could the staff not get in the next morning, but the furniture was ruined by the rain which meant it could not be sold and the charity then had to pay to get it removed.

Shop manager Susan Langford said: “This is the fourth time this has happened since September; none of the items have been saleable, and we have to pay to get rid of it.

“We are a charity and we are trying to raise money not waste it like this.

“People don’t care. It is just an excuse for them to get rid of stuff they don’t want.”

The council’s environmental enforcement officers are investigating the incident as it is fly-tipping.

They say it is a problem at charity shops throughout the county and are appealing for people not to leave anything on the pavement outside.

Executive board member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “Fly-tipping is a serious offence and unfortunately this is an issue at charity shops across Carmarthenshire.

“On this particular occasion, so much furniture was left that the staff couldn’t get to the shop door. It resulted in the charity having to pay out money to dispose of it as it had got wet and couldn’t be sold.

“The manager was very upset by the incident.”

● The furniture was left some time between 6.30pm and 9pm on Monday, October 8. If you have any information which may help officers with their investigation please call Carmarthenshire Direct on 01267 234567.