'The house that fly-tipping built' goes on show

A house furnished by fly-tippers will be unveiled by Norwich City Council to highlight the scale of the problem.

The council filled an empty property with items collected over a one-week period.

A sofa, table and chairs, washing machine, pushchair, bicycle, filing cabinet and television were among the items salvaged.

Each week Norwich is blighted with almost 100 fly-tipping cases.

This furniture is just part of what has been collected by Norwich City Council and CityCare during fly-tipping awareness week, displayed as ‘rooms’ in the house that fly tipping built.

Marcia Elliott, service development officer who looks after fly tipping at the council, said: “This is just a snapshot of what we’ve collected as we simply wouldn’t be able to fit it all in this space. It’s amazing how people get rid of things when there are so many responsible ways that they could dispose of their waste”

The council points out there are many services available to people in the city who want to get rid of unwanted household items.

The council collects fridges and freezers free of charge from the kerbside, and also offers a bulky waste collection - where for a small fee up to three large household items eg sofa, bed etc are collected from the kerbside.

The household waste recycling centre also accepts bulky waste, limited amounts of DIY waste and garden waste.

Away from the council there are organisations all over the city that will happily find a new home for your unwanted items.

Check with your nearest charity what they are able to accept (it varies from place to place), take advantage of free online swap sites like www.freecycle.org, or make a bit of extra cash out of your unwanted things by selling them somewhere like eBay or a local car boot.