Pitsea tip is being used to store more than 1,000 fridges and freezers as the county desperately tries to deal with tough new EU rules.
The Pitsea Hall Lane civic amenity site, run by Essex County Council, has been taking truckloads of fridges since the start of the year.
County council bosses are lobbying for extra Government cash to help them cope with a European ruling which says old fridges cannot be dumped at landfill sites and must be disposed of in special containers.
A chilling sight - discarded fridges are piling up at the Pitsea Hall Lane civic amenity site Picture: TERENCE BUNCH 7WF3G1
Kay Twitchen, the county's cabinet member for waste and recycling, said it would not always be possible to store them away from the public's gaze.
She said: "I am trying to find a way through the problem and it is going to be difficult. By the end of the year, there will be 560,000 fridges dumped in Essex."
The EU ruling is aimed at preventing leakage of the ozone destroying gases used in refrigeration units.
Published Wednesday, March 6, 2002
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