A NEW white goods recycling service has been launched by a Bolton electricals giant - after it emerged 47,000 fridges and washers had been dumped nationwide.

Research commissioned by AO.com has revealed Leeds was the UK's capital for the fly-tipping of household appliances in 2018, on 1,688 cases.

Manchester is not far behind, with 1,556 reported incidents over the same period.

Bolton showed a comparatively clean pair of heels, with just 28 cases. Bury had more than twice that, on 58, while neighbouring Blackburn with Darwen had 128 and Burnley topped the Lancashire list on 222.

Several local authorities offer a white goods recycling service - but bosses at AO say this is prone to opportunist scrap dealers moving in as householders are asked to leave old fridges and washers at the roadside, with their final destination then unclear.

Anthony Sant, of AO's recycling arm, said: "Five years ago, there were only 14,000 cases of white goods being fly tipped so this has increased by 250 per cent.

"We're dedicated to putting an end to this. Customers deserve peace of mind when disposing of white goods and that's where AO comes in.

"Appliances that have reached the end of their life are given the full AO Recycling treatment .

"They’re broken apart and sorted into their constituent metals, plastics and harmful gases.

"For £20, we will take your old appliance away and recycle it responsibly, saving a big cost to the environment."

Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, which campaigns to reduce fly-tipping, added: "We would like to congratulate AO.com on this fantastic initiative.

"Our research shows us that making it easy and affordable for people to do the right thing is one of the ways to tackle the epidemic of fly tipping in this country and this new service does just that, at the same time as ensuring that all the valuable resources contained in white goods are recycled."