A DISABLED pensioner is seething after being told she will have to pay to get rid of a TV she found dumped in her garden.
Hazel Dawson, 75, called Gedling Borough Council on Friday to let them know she had been lumbered with the flatscreen television in her garden in Brookfield Road, Arnold.
They told her that she would either have to dispose of it herself or pay a £13 charge for it to be taken away.
Ms Dawson said: "I was quite angry really because it wasn't my rubbish. I'm on my own and I can't drive.
"I can't and didn't even try to move the thing because I used to have septicemia in my arm."
"I'm not paying £13 for removal of an item which isn't mine."
Hazel's daughter, Joanne Smith was disgusted at the council's attitude.
She said: "I was appalled that a disabled pensioner, whether it be my mother or someone else of that age, is expected to pay for removal of something that was not one of their belongings."
"My mum has been a hard working taxpayer for all of her life, until retirement, and caused no one any trouble.
"I think it's high time the council changed their policy to remove unwanted goods for elderly people who find themselves in this predicament."
She added: "Why can't the council provide a pensioner with a collection service as long as they show them their ID when the item is collected, whether it is their own unwanted goods or dumped on them by other lazy people?
"I feel like dumping the damn thing myself at HQ in Arnot Hill Park to let them deal with it.
"But, of course, I wouldn't do that because I am a law-abiding citizen."
A spokesman for the council said the authority was aware of the issue.
But, he said, it wasn't the council's job to remove the television set.
A spokesman said: "The case with fly-tipping is that if waste is dumped on council property, then we have to remove it.
"When the waste is on private property, the owner has to take responsibility."
What do you think of the council's fly-tipping policy? E-mail newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk
