Good samaritan threatened with fine

The Lenzie householder dragged a dumped dishwasher and tumble drier into his own garden after becoming concerned that they could attract more selfish tippers.

But when he contacted the council to ask for them to be picked up they said they would charge him £20 because they were on private property.

Then, when he suggested putting them back where they came from, he was told that he would face a fine.

A council employee then suggested that they would consider lifting the appliances but only if an officer could inspect the resident’s kitchen for signs of newly-installed appliances.

The man, who didn’t want to be named, said: “It seemed absolutely ridiculous when all I was trying to do was the best thing for the area.

“In the end I just disposed of them myself.”

Grace Irvine, the council’s director of neighbourhood services, said: “We have always thoroughly investigated every case of fly tipping and attempt to identify the culprits.

“Our officers will make every effort to identify if something has been dumped outside someone’s house or is an attempt to avoid the special refuse collection charge. Unfortunately this sometimes does involve making further investigations as described in this case.

“Had we been able to identify that this was the case here, we would have removed the item at no cost to the resident.

“This is a regrettable situation and we are sorry the resident had this difficulty.”