Dorset Council and charities are reminding residents that bags left next to recycling banks in car parks will be treated as rubbish.

Lots of people are wanting to donate clothing over the Christmas break but they are asked to keep hold of them if the recycling bank is full, or take it to a household recycling centre.

Leaving items next to the banks is not only considered to be fly-tipping, but it is most likely that the contents will be spoiled and unfit to be donated or recycled, ending up as regular rubbish.

The recycling banks in the Bridport Co-op car park are regularly seen with bags and other items - recently including a fridge - next to them.

A spokesman for The Salvation Army, which services Dorset Council's clothing banks in car parks, said: "While we are grateful for donations, we ask that people refrain from leaving bags of donations next to clothing banks and outside charity shops, as lockdown restrictions mean they cannot be collected and they will instead be sent to landfill sites.

"Losing these donations to landfill will cost the charity thousands in lost stocks, as well as being an environmental disaster.

"Money raised from textile reuse and recycling benefits us as well as many national and local community-based charities.

"Our Lifehouses [homeless hostels] and food banks are just some of the vital services supporting people hardest hit by the coronavirus."

Those who have items they would usually take to a recycling bank in a car park, please wait until the banks are being emptied again - which is likely to be January 4 - consider if there's another way to deal with them while maintaining social distancing, or reduce what you produce.

For example:

• Could your clothes and textiles be donated elsewhere or sold online?
• Could you switch from cartons to different packaging that can be recycled at the kerbside?
• Can your old electronic device be fixed?
• Could you use alternatives to foil?

Councillor Tony Alford, Dorset Council's portfolio holder for customer, community and regulatory services, said: "We appreciate the enthusiasm of Dorset residents to recycle clothing that they no longer need.

"But dumping it on the ground by the side of a recycling bank or outside a charity shop is fly-tipping and this clothing is more likely to end up being treated like household rubbish rather than be recycled.

"We ask everyone to be patient and to hold on to their clothing and other items until the containers are ready to be serviced again."

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