Two residents who left items outside a charity shop out of hours have been fined under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The dumped bags were found outside Barnardo’s in Farnham Road and staff there reported the incidents to the council’s resilience and enforcement team on 5 July, who investigated.

Personal details were found inside the bags, which led back to the two offenders.

One person was issued a Fixed Penalty Notice of £600 for failure of domestic duty of care, which was reduced to £400 due to prompt payment.

Another person was issued a simple caution and fined £50 for failure of domestic duty of care.

Councillor Ishrat Shah, lead member for equalities, public health and public protection, said: “Time and time again we highlight what a problem flytipping is and how inconsiderate it is for people to do it.

“In this case, the people may have thought they were doing a nice thing by leaving the items for when the shop reopened, but in reality, bags get split apart by people or animals and the items end up all over the street and of no use to the charity.

“Please always donate items when a charity shop is open, that way they can resell them and raise vital funds.”

A Barnardo’s spokesperson said: “We’re always really grateful for donations to our charity and would like to say a huge 'thank you' to those who continue to support us.

“It is however vital that people check our current opening times. These are shown at the entrance to the store. Donations that are left outside the shop are often damaged by animals, the weather or even stolen before they can be accepted by our store teams.

“We would ask our customers to please keep bringing good-quality pre-loved clothing, books, DVDs, toys, games, accessories and homeware during our opening hours."

Fixed penalty fines for flytipping have recently been increased to a maximum of £1,000, and the fixed penalty notice for failure of domestic duty of care is a maximum of £600.

You can report flytipping on the council’s website.