A Scarborough based skip hire company, Stabler and Sons, are providing a free skip, complete with cover, to help a customer who became a victim of ‘skip jacking’.
Teresa Merron, of Esplanade, was “furious” after a bathroom suite and other items were dumped in a skip she had hired.
She had paid for the skip for two weeks whilst renovating her new flat but was unable to use it due to the amount of other people’s rubbish that mysteriously appeared.
Ms Merron, a staff nurse at Bridlington Hospital, said:
“I’m shocked when I paid for the thing and someone else is filling it. It’s inconvenient and distressing and I was so cross.”
“It’s an inconvenience as I’ve got a lot of rubble upstairs that I can’t put in my skip. I would tell other people to get a skip with covers.”
“I phoned Scarborough Council and they told me I would be prosecuted if I took anything out and dumped it on the side of the road.”
Harry Briggs, recycling development officer for Scarborough Council, said:
“If a resident employs a private contractor to help dispose of their waste then it is the resident’s responsibility to keep it secure.”
“The council, and ultimately the council tax payer, cannot be held responsible for securing private skips within the borough.”
“While we sympathise with this resident, we have limited powers, in much the same way with regards to fly-tipping on private land.”
“If, however, a skip has been placed on the public highway and is causing a defined nuisance, for example, obstruction to other road users, then action may be undertaken by the highways authority depending upon the circumstances.”
Stabler and Sons offered to provide a smaller skip, free of charge, upon collection of the original skip. They are also providing a skip cover to scupper any further skip jacking plans.
