OLD and unwanted furniture could be saved from the dump as part of a bid to get a re-use scheme up and running in household recycling centres throughout Wiltshire.

Unitary councillors called the idea an important initiative and said it would stop fridge freezers, toasters and furniture from being thrown into landfill.

The system would let people leave working items in a cabin at the site, which other residents could pick up and take away. Chairman of the environment select committee Sven Hocking said: “My parents often use the service at Romsey and come back with more than they took. We’ve all seen on the news and television about the plastics in the sea so now is a good time to make recycling a prominent feature of what we are trying to do.”

Measures to make reporting fly-tipping easier were also encouraged.

Cabinet member for waste Bridget Wayman said: “We are encouraging members of the public to come forward with any littering and fly-tipping they see. I recently had someone get in touch with dashcam footage of someone littering out of the car and we are in the process of reviewing this to see it it can help bring about a prosecution.

"We are keen to stamp this out and littering in general. I think the state of the county at the moment is not looking wonderful, there is a lot of litter lying about. I am sure we will be having a push to remove all that before grass cutting season starts.”