A WORCESTER charity which helps the needy has been left reeling after free passes for disposing of rubbish were withdrawn by council chiefs.

Until now Armchair, which passes on unwanted household furniture to members of the public, has benefited from free permits to use the landfill site near Pershore.

But Worcestershire County Council has ditched the passes, leaving the organisation having to take it elsewhere and meet a hefty bill for it.

Volunteers at Armchair say they turned up at Hill & Moor landfill site in Throckmorton with a van stuffed with items, only to be told to take it elsewhere.

Bosses at County Hall say due to operational layout changes at the site it is now considered "unsafe" for charities to use, but they are looking at other solutions despite not having any obligation to do so.

In the meantime Armchair volunteers say they will have to fork out over £100 each time they fill a van with unusable items and take it to a private contractor.

The charity takes goods like sofas, beds, tables and chairs and passes them on for free to those in need, like newly-rehoused homeless people.

In 2015/16 no fewer than 195 people benefitted from its work, with 803 household items being passed on.

Every few months volunteers collect a van full of stuff which is damaged or not suitable for re-use.

Armchair is not allowed to take the unsuitable items to Worcester's recycling centre at Perdiswell because it is classed as 'trade waste' by the council, making its plight worse.

Richard Hines, Armchair's manager, said: "The whole thing is a barmy bureaucratic nightmare.

"All the furniture we are given comes from private households - but once we put it in the Armchair van it somehow turns into 'trade waste' in the council's eyes.

"We can’t take our waste to Perdiswell for recycling like householders, even though it's all been given to us by domestic householders.

"Armchair’s rubbish is all wood and metal but the council has forced us to take it to a commercial waste contractor who has charged us £116 for a van-load for landfill."

It is calling for an exemption so charities that recycle furniture can have it classed as domestic waste, to allow it to be recycled.

Cllr Anthony Blagg, the county council's cabinet member for the environment said: "Armchair has definitely not been singled out.

"Previous arrangements for charities to use the disposal facility have had to be suspended because the layout of operation changed making it unsafe for the charities to continue.

"Although there is no obligation for the council to provide a facility for charities to dispose of waste free of charge, we're currently in process of arranging a suitable system for charities to dispose of their household waste."