People disposing of unwanted freezers are leaving them full of rotting food, according to officials.

Environmental health chiefs have warned they may refuse to take old fridges and freezers unless they have been cleaned properly.

Stockton Borough Council's Care For Your Area (CFYA) team is looking to stamp out smelly surprises for the bulky household waste collection crew after they collected a number of fridges still containing mouldy old food.

Putrid pasties and other stale food left in fridges after they have been sent for disposal attract vermin, spread disease and overstretch the resources of the CFYA service. Officers are unable to check each individual fridge and, where necessary, clean them.

Under EC legislation fridges need to be sent to specialist disposal facilities to be dismantled, which are not licensed to handle food waste. As such, any food left in them would lead the disposal facility to be prosecuted by the Environment Agency.

In 2003 - 2004 the council received a total of 4,837 requests for free removal of fridges and freezers, with more than 92 per cent being removed with the council's ten working day target. This year the council looks set to top that figure, having already received 1,484 requests, pointing to an estimated 5,300 requests by the end of 2004 - 2005.

Councillor Steve Nelson, Stockton council's cabinet member for environment, said: "People need to be aware of the problems that leaving food in fridges causes.

"It only takes a minute to check that a fridge has been emptied of its contents and this minute can save a lot of work and trouble for Care For Your Area staff in the long run."