RUBBISH is being dumped on the doorsteps of charity shops since local councils introduced new restrictions on getting rid of waste.

And the boss of one Dorset charity says the fly-tipping will cost his organisation money and hit the people it cares for.

Last week, the Daily Echo called on local authorities across the conurbation to sort out the chaos surrounding the area's household waste sites.

Now Pramacare general manager Ian Collier is backing our stance and claims that since new refuse regulations came into force on August 1, residents have been discarding domestic refuse outside charity shops and fly-tipping in their bins.

The charity, which provides subsidised care for the infirm and elderly, has nine shops in East Dorset.

"In the past month, since local councils banned overfilled bins, we have found domestic refuse dumped in our own bins," said Mr Collier. "Worse still some people have fly-tipped their refuse, in bags, on our shop doorsteps.

"I'm sure it must be connected to the new wheelie bin rules and the restrictions at Millhams tip. If people who have always used Millhams are now being turned away, that rubbish has got to go somewhere.

"Our shops receive many donations from the public with various items left outside premises when the shops are closed.

"Even as a charity we have to pay commercial prices to have our refuse collected.

"The fly-tipping is costing us more and depriving our clients of care. Other businesses must be affected as well along with parks, hedgerows and roadsides which, in the end, will cost the councils money."

He called on local councils to be "more proactive" in helping the community dispose of refuse.

"Would it be a fair trade-off for us to bring the excess rubbish to the town hall? Of course not. But it's not fair for us, as a charity, to suffer from this council policy."

In response, Bournemouth borough council's refuse manager Rick Davies said: "We are sorry to hear that Pramacare is being targeted by irresponsible members of the public. We always advise our trade waste customers to ensure that their bins are out of sight and well contained, except on the day of collection, and would be happy to talk to Pramacare further about ways to overcome this problem.

"We monitor fly-tipping in the borough and it has not increased since the introduction of the excess waste policy so therefore we do not accept that the two are connected."

First published: Sept 27