THE Democrat has done the trick for a frustrated Warrenpoint ratepayer who had been waiting almost four months for Newry and Mourne District Council to organise the collection of two rusty and dilapidated washing machines from outside his house.

It was back in January that Martin Savage contacted the Council’s special bulky waste collection service and asked if the machines could be picked up. His details were taken and an assurance given that the appliances would be collected, although Martin was warned that it could take up to 10 days. Unfortunately however, you’ve guessed it, the offending machines sat outside his house until The Democrat contacted the Council on Thursday morning on Martin’s behalf.

At this point, they were suddenly and almost miraculously picked up. “They were outside my house since January in all types of weather and basically I had two piles of rust sitting there.” Martin told The Democrat. “I phoned the Council at least six times and kept getting told that they were very busy, but every time they said that they would definitely pick the machines up in the next few days.

” At the end of March, Martin penned a letter to the Council, explaining the situation – which he described as unbelievable – and giving the authority one further week to do what it had promised to do. After receiving the letter, an official rang Martin and apologised for the delay. In fact, he actually admitted that the Council had, in his words, got it wrong this time.

Yet despite a promise that the machines would be picked up right away, yet again nothing was done until this week. “Surely it couldn’t have been that hard to pick up two washing machines?” Martin suggested. “I had an old sofa picked up a few years ago without any of these problems and I don’t know what went wrong on this occasion. Those things were just an eyesore outside our front door.” As a result of the delay, Martin admits to being curious as to what he is actually paying his rates for.

“If these people won’t do what they are paid to do, then what are we supposed to think?” he asked. “It’s no wonder people resort to illegal dumping if this is the way the Council treats them. If anyone had lent me a van over the past few months, I would have taken the machines and left them outside the Council offices to save them the bother of having to come out to my house to collect them.

It’s a bit of a coincidence that they were finally picked up after a newspaper phoned the Council. I’d like to thank The Democrat for your help in getting these things collected at last. It just shows the power of the press.”