Waste disposal experts in Devon say they are facing an accommodation crisis - because of a glut of disused fridges.

The county is believed to be the first in the UK at bursting point after handling a mountain of the unwanted kitchen appliances.

Officials blame European legislation which brought in tough new rules for disposing of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) present in foam packed around fridges.

But as the county struggles under the strain of finding space for thousands of old chill cabinets, the rest of the country was warned the problem could spread.

'Surprise' legislation

Richard May, managing director of Devon Waste Management, said: "We have about 7,000 fridges on one site in Devon and space there will run out in the next week.

"The legislation came as a bit of a surprise - we had expected that we would have to recycle CFC gases in the fridges but not necessarily the foam.

"This situation will be happening all over the country as the fridge dumps grow larger over the next 12 months."

Mr May expects new equipment capable of processing the fridges to arrive in the UK in the coming months, but he still expects it to take two years before the backlog is cleared.

Another option could be to ship unwanted fridges to Germany - where they have already geared up to cope with the new legislation for disposing of CFC-rich fridge foam.

Mr May added: "We could send them to Germany for processing but they will have limited capacity because they are dealing with their own fridges and perhaps those of adjacent countries."

Store refusal

The new legislation was brought in because of the dangers of insulating foam containing CFC gases - which have been linked to holes in the ozone layer.

Many electrical stores now refuse to take away old fridges when delivering new ones, while local authorities charge between �10 and �50 for the service.

There are currently no facilities capable of decommissioning fridges in the UK, even though UK households get rid of up to three million a year.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs admits it may be some time before special recycling plants are operational.

Until then, councils will collect old fridges - at a charge - and store them until the facilities are available.