PEOPLE in east Cleveland might not have to pay to have old fridges removed - despite growing mountains of old kitchen appliances in other parts of the country.

Earlier this week, The Northern Echo reported how councils across the North-East and North Yorkshire are facing bills of up to £1.2m to stockpile thousands of old fridges, because they have been banned from dumping them in landfill sites.

But, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council hopes to continue with a free service. The council plans to place containers at its depot at Warrenby, near Redcar, and the Dunsdale civic amenity site, near Guisborough.

It says to remove the fridges from homes and to store them in these containers will cost about £52,000 and there is no budget available for it.

At present, the service is free to people in the borough, but the council is asking its executive, which will make a decision on Tuesday, to consider charging people a contribution, or a full fee of £31.

However, a scrutiny committee, which considers environmental issues, has recommended it should remain a free service.

Councillor Brian Hogg said the committee wanted the council to investigate further whether funding was going to be made available.

He said: "I listened to Prime Minister's Question Time this week and there could be £6m available. I think we should find out whether any of that money is available for local authorities first."

Mike Hardman, the council's assistant director for neighbourhood services, said: "The national picture is one of mountains of these objects piling up, but surprisingly - and with some relief - we have not seen a significant rise."