A charity dedicated to helping animals has been left with a bill for thousands of pounds after its charity shops have been used as dumping ground for unwanted rubbish.

The Devon-based charity Animals in Distress has a dozen charity shops across south Devon, including one in Foss Street, Dartmouth; High Street, Totnes; and Fore Street, Brix­ham.

Recently the charity has been ‘inundated’ with donated articles which are so damaged or soiled that it has no hope of selling them on.

At the same time the charity has been clobbered by changes in the rules which leave charities facing the full charge of disposing of unwanted items.

In this year alone, Animals in Distress has had to fork out £12,700 to get rid of the donated items it cannot use, said the charity’s chief executive Neil Thomas.

He said: ‘As a charity, we survive on the kind donations of items to sell in our 12 shops across south Devon.

‘Without the generous support of the local community, we simply wouldn’t be able to care for the animals we do.

‘However, we have recently been inundated with soiled and unsaleable items, which presents a huge problem for the charity.

‘In one weekend in August, boxes of soiled and broken items were dumped outside our shop in Totnes Road, Paignton.

‘It took our staff all day to clear the items and cost the charity over £300 to dispose of the unsaleable goods at the tip.’

Previously, charities were not charged for disposing of the goods they weren’t able to sell in their shops but in 2014 the charging structure was changed and now charities have to pay full commercial rates.

Organisations such as Animals in Distress, which rely on the income raised in their charity shops, are now having to reallocate tens of thousands of pounds every year to waste charges – money which previously would have been spent on delivering their charitable activities, said Mr Thomas.

He added: ‘The new tipping charges puts Animals in Distress in a difficult position.

‘Unfortunately we receive a lot of items that we simply aren’t able to sell in our shops.

‘This is largely because they are soiled or broken. We recycle everything we can, including broken glass and crockery, cardboard and we even scrap unsellable metals, but this still leaves us with a large amount to take to the tip.

‘With the new charges, we are now having to pay to dispose of what is effectively domestic waste.’

Animals in Distress has had charity shops in the area for over 20 years.

The shops, which are supported by volunteers, have provided vital funding for the thousands of cats, dogs, rabbits and guinea pigs which have found new homes thanks to the charity’s work.