A LOCAL retailer has hit out at recent government advice to shoppers to stop buying fridges or freezers.

A spokesman for Currys in Gants Hill said that the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) should be sorting out the potential fridge mountain problem rather than issuing such warnings.

The governmental advice was given last week in the wake of recent European Union regulations, making it illegal to dispose of fridges in the current way.

From January 1, cylinders containing gases harmful to the earth's protective ozone layer will have to be removed from the fridges and disposed of separately.

The Currys spokesman said: "We don't support advising people not to buy fridges and we would encourage the government to step up the process in order to sort out the problem as soon as possible.

"In common with many other retailers we are now withdrawing our collection service. We are advising our customers to contact their local authority to get their old fridges taken away.

"We are still selling fridges, but it's too soon to say if this has affected our sales figures."

There are currently no facilities in the UK for fridges to be destroyed in line with the new regulations.

It has been estimated that local authorities like Redbridge will have to bear the brunt of storing these appliances until they can be disposed of in the new way or face having them dumped in the street.

A Redbridge Council spokeswoman said: "When this new legislation is enacted in January, Redbridge will continue to take fridges from residents and remove coolant gases in order to make the fridges safe to be stored.

"East London Waste Authority will be providing storage facilities to store fridges and freezers until a processing plant becomes available.

"In light of this new legislation tightening the regulations Redbridge hopes this special initiative has helped to raise awareness among residents of how to dispose of fridges and freezers correctly."

Residents should call the council's cleansing services to make arrangements for safe disposal of all household fridges and freezers.

Defra will be publishing the standards for the new recycling plants next week.