CHARITIES are appealing to the public not to flytip donations outside of their stores.

While welcoming donations to the stores, shop bosses are calling on people to make sure they are open before bringing items in.

The latest scourge of flytipping outside shops has seen people emptying rubbish from their garages outside shops. At the other end of the spectrum, the dumping of items means some things have been stolen from boxes.

General manager at Age Concern Christchurch, David Tozer said: "Donations are needed for us to survive but the problem is when items are flytipped, we have no opportunity to regulate what's coming in and indeed many very good items which people want to donate to us are actually stolen out of the box or the bag or in the entirety of the donation, so that's our struggle.

"Some items which get left are poor quality or things that people really should have gone to the tip with because they're so bulky or not of saleable quality.

"That's our challenge because once it lands with us we then either have to pay for it to be taken away which clearly impacts our income or find some other ways to dispose of it, so that relies on a volunteer going down to the tip in their own vehicle and getting rid of it, which doesn't sound like very much but it soon builds up.

"Our neighbours reported that somebody arrived in their car, took everything off our doorstep, put it in their car and drove away which is beggars belief really but in some people psyche its there and sitting there and it's fair game.

"The one thing I would like to emphasise is that we welcome donations, without them we wouldn't survive as a charity but we would like to mange the donation by being there in order to receive it."

A spokesperson from the Samaritans charity shop in Bournemouth, has also experienced this: "It is an issue, you do find quite a lot of fly tipping.

"A few months ago I had some stuff that was literally taken out of somebody's garage, it was in crates and there was brake fluid flowing freely around everything in it, which was disgusting and smelt awful.

"Generally the stuff that people leave outside isn't really usable, we do get bags left outside because we don't open until 11 and a lot of that stuff is very good, i had one this morning and the stuff was absolutely fine.

"But also sometimes you come along and you find that the whole of the front is just covered in absolute rubbish and if you leave stuff outside people go through it and it gets spread around and then you've just got a mess to clear up.

"Some of the back streets are absolutely filled with rubbish and its detrimental to the whole area."

Councillor Nicola Greene, portfolio holder for council priorities and delivery said: “We are grateful for residents’ generosity in making donations.

"Unfortunately, goods which are left outside shops can end up spoiled and unfit to be donated or recycled. It can end up as regular rubbish, causing a nuisance and can negatively impact on the appearance of an area."