DOZENS of fridges are already starting to pile up at Swindon's Barnfield Road recycling depot following a European ruling that has rendered their disposal impossible in Great Britain.

The problem is expected to become so bad that council cabinet members have agreed to set up a dedicated area at the site for storing the fridges until a more suitable arrangement can be found.

John Short, the director of Swin-don Services, said it was a case of "a fridge too far."

As from January 1, all unwanted fridges must have their insulation safely removed before being destroyed.

There is currently no machinery in Britain capable of carrying out the task, so councils are having to store the fridges until there is.

The situation is made worse by the fact that, in the light of the ruling, electrical retailers such as Comet and Currys have already stopped exchanging old fridges for new ones.

That means the number handed into Barnfield Road is starting to increase and is expected to rise from the usual 4,000 to 9,000 fridges dropped off next year.

Their disposal could cost the council nearly £400,000 more by the end of this financial year.

At a cabinet meeting this week, councillors agreed to set up a fenced off area at Barnfield Road to store the fridges at least until the end of March, at a cost of £44,000.

Mr Short said: "We need to get this resolved as soon as possible, because we are starting to get these fridges piling up."

The long-term plan for the council for dealing with the matter is yet to be decided, but it has been mooted that it could buy the relevant machinery from Europe and set up a disposal site at Shaw.

The council could then charge other councils for removing the insulation and actually make money out of the scheme, although if that route is pursued, nothing is likely to happen in the next 12 months.

The council is also considering introducing a £20 charge for the collection of fridges from people's homes, together with new charges for collecting other bulky waste.

The costs of collecting bulky waste are rising for the council, but it is also feared that any charges imposed might lead to increased flytipping, which would cost the council to deal with anyway.

Deputy leader of the Labour group, Derek Benfield (Covingham) said: "I'm worried that the money we would make from the charges would be lost again in dealing with fly-tipping."