To ask this woman to stop?!

😂😂😂

throw it at her head

@StopInhalingRevels
I think this entire thread sums up 'two kinds of people in this world'!

Stop answering the door to her? I couldn't be bothered to have that conversation repeatedly.

And this sums up the "two kinds of people in this world" to a tee.

Not yet as far as I know. She saw it on her ring doorbell and was asking if anyone knew how to contact him.

Whoa! That is horrible! Was there a resolution to this? I would think that would be theft.

Not your drive, not your business.

@StopInhalingRevels @DancingFerret

It's quite irritating to have people suggest I'm unable to read or understand information.

Many areas of the UK have a local scrap man, or woman. Also in many areas of the UK it is normal to leave belongings on the end of your drive for locals to take if they wish to.

The OP, like many of us on this thread, leaves items every couple of weeks or months on her drive. They disappear within 24 hours because someone else wants them, presumably either passing locals or the scrap man. If nobody wanted them they would stay on her drive until she removed them. But that's not what's happening. The items are all disappearing because that's how the system works in her area. It's how things work in my area too and we don't to my knowledge have a problem with fly tipping. She puts something out on say a Monday morning, it's gone by Tuesday morning and she doesn't put anything out again until two weeks later. That is not constant.

If I were to call the council they would give me a time and date and tell me to leave things outside on a specific day. The scrap man would likely appear and take them before the council has chance to because as I said, he comes round very frequently. If this was causing a problem the council would need to change their system and ask residents to stop leaving items for collection outside their house. But that's not what's happening.

You may not want to live in my area because you think it's uncouth or has a tone that you don't like. And that's absolutely fine. You may not have a local scrap man so it probably wouldn't be sensible for you to leave scrap in your front drive. That's also fine.

What's irritating me is the implication that myself and the majority of other posters are not able to understand whatever point you're making. We understand it, you wouldn't like to see rubbish on a fortnightly basis. It's a difference of opinion, not a lack of comprehension. I don't mind if my neighbours leave stuff outside their houses every couple of weeks, in fact I appreciate it as I sometimes want the things they are discarding. I understand why you wouldn't like it just fine, we are different.

Our rag and bone man is horse and cart still too. Though he’s ancient at least 90. Horse leaves a treat for the roses and it’s a win win!

Scrap gets picked up really quickly here, I left a washer/dryer, a microwave, broken bits of metal fencing, random bits of metal from the garage - organised for a local scrap man to come and collect whilst I was at work, someone else had collected it before he had a chance to get here.

We have around 4 different scrap men operating in our area, there's multiple FB posts on our local group daily from either the scrap men or people wanting rid of junk. They are licenced by the way

Comprehension (or, more accurately, lack of it) is a constant on Mumsnet.

If you don’t open the door to her, she’ll leave your stuff on your doorstep.

I don’t have a tat man but I can believe they exist. I get a bit cross with people dumping stuff on my street - things like a splintery, old cot with a note on to say “Please take!” but no one does. Particularly once it’s been rained on. Most people don’t have a car (central London) so that’s the reason they do it.

If there are piles of stuff left on the street, you can report them to the council using the LoveCleanStreets app.

It's really starting to bother me now but I'm annoyingly polite.

In real life, maybe...

Why do you answer the door when she knocks on it?
Can you not check who's outside before opening it?
If it's her, just don't open!
If she gets no response, she'll stop trying eventually.

Yes, they're usually honest about it and, if something is no good to them - i.e. not chiefly made of metal and/or a fridge or freezer, which they cannot take - they will just leave it (or tell you if you stop them and ask).

They operate on a two-way benefit basis: they take your (metal) rubbish off your hands, so you don't have to take it to the tip or pay the council (or the company delivering your new dryer or whatever); and then they make money by selling it on in bulk. Fair trade is no robbery.

I agree with PP that expecting households to never have rubbish at the edge of their properties for collection is very unrealistic. That's exactly what happens with a bin (maybe several and/or boxes or bags) that the council collect; so why suddenly so upset about an old ironing board, microwave or coffee table that somebody who can use it will most probably take within an hour or two?

It's not like anybody is leaving an actual open fly-ridden heap of stinky manure or rotting meat and hoping that somebody wants it - it's often pretty much identical-looking to something that you will have in your home, except it's older, a bit more battered and (if for the tat men) no longer works.

Back to the two-way benefit point, if it's something for re-use rather than scrap metal, there are a lot of people who won't just 'try to find a new home for it' but who might be desperate for something but unable to afford to buy one even from a charity shop.

Imagine you at number 48 urgently need a dining table and the people at number 5 have an old (slightly scuffed and dated, but totally fine) one to get rid of. By insisting that 5 should go to the trouble of taking it straight to the tip (if they even have a suitable vehicle) and then 48 have to go without when there was one under their noses going begging that a few mates could have carried back in 10 minutes... that's just a horrible elitist attitude; not everybody can afford to buy whatever they need from John Lewis.

Anyone with the capacity to actually read the thread knows this.

I don't know why it's such a difficult concept for some to grasp. Yet here we are...

She said she leaves stuff outside every couple of weeks or every couple of months, and that it disappears within 24 hours. So the rubbish isn't constantly outside her house. Constantly would mean that it's out there all the time.

I put my bins out every week and they're gone within 24 hours. I wouldn't say that they're outside constantly.

Stop answering the door to her.

I don't know why you're talking about people leaving rubbish in their garden/drive constantly to just see whether anyone takes it. People keep telling you that in their areas any scrap metal disappears very quickly.

Because the OP obviously isn't just talking about scrap metal and the frequency with her neighbour visitis irritating her sounds like it is constant.

This is a crazy thread, full of insufferable snobs.

Anyway though, what to I know, being a ...checks notes.... scuzzy flytipper living in a poor, feral area. Though I'd much rather my neighbours and their piles of scrap out the front, than half the posters on here.

@howaboutchocolate

It's just vile leaving your crap at the edge of your property in the hope someone takes it for the reasons I've said repeatedly including environmentally unfriendly and fly tipping.

I put stuff out. If it were 'junk' or 'rubbish' or 'crap' or whatever else some posters are discribing it as I wonder why it usually disappears within half a day. I mostly put out things like old furniture etc.

People wouldn't be taking it unless they want it. It's silly to suggest otherwise. It's good for me, it's good for them and it's good for the environment.

I most recently put out a coffee table. It was quite beaten up as it had been in a shed but I thought I'd see if someone wanted it. It went in a couple of hours. It wasn't unsightly 'crap'

I think posters on this thread are arguing for the sake of it.

@SirQuintusAureliusMaximus I think scrap men generally do have a waste license, otherwise they could be fined. If our local scrap man was causing such an issue by fly tipping in our area I think it would be pretty easy for the council to find and fine him as he drives round playing the rag and bone man "any old iron" line, he's not especially subtle.

You don't need to book an appointment for him to pick stuff up because that's not how he works. Maybe the council are quite happy for him to continue operating in our area because he's saving them a lot of work. I guess I could ask him whether he's got a license next time I've got something for him to take.

I don't know why you're talking about people leaving rubbish in their garden/drive constantly to just see whether anyone takes it. People keep telling you that in their areas any scrap metal disappears very quickly.

If the scrap metal people were just fly tipping all this stuff - well, I'm sure we'd start noticing. Or it'd be in the paper or the council would say something. We don't have a fly tipping problem here. Maybe you have this problem where you are. But not all areas are like that.

It's really not the same principle. It is how waste collection works in this country. You leave it out for someone to collect it, whether it's in a bin, a bag, or loose. The council runs and endorses their own kerbside waste collection system. It's a perfectly fine way of getting rid of things. If a scrap dealer or a neighbour can get there quicker than the council then why not.