Even by Croydon’s standards as the “fly-tip capital of London”, this latest example excels all previous dumps.

Fridge magnet: the dump spotted in the Norwood Junction underpass has not, yet, attracted other rubbish

A discarded fridge had been left in the foot tunnel beneath the platforms of Norwood Junction railway station, just by the stairs up to Platform 4.

But just how did it get there?

The achievement of getting it there was greeted with disbelief by South Norwood locals on social media, with one even asking if it was another art installation by Banksy.

There was an average of more than 1,000 fly-tips reported every week around Croydon last year, according to official figures published in February – at a time when the Croydon Council had no enforcement staff. The data published by DEFRA, the environment department, made Croydon officially the worst place in the country for fly-tipping.

The Norwood Junction fridge just adds to those sorry statistics.

But it has also raised an important question: how did it get there?

The fridge has ended up in the station’s pedestrian underpass, which can only be reached from the street by passing through (or over?) the station ticket barriers and down a flight of steps. Unless, of course, someone brought the fridge to Norwood Junction by train…

“So many questions,” one local posted on social media, describing it as “peak fly-tipping”.

There is a chance, of course, that the fridge fly-tipper might have been picked up on the station’s fly-tip.

There’s next to no chance that Croydon Council will be taking any action over the incident, however. Rubbish contractors Veolia will no doubt decline the opportunity of clearing another fly-tip because the fridge “is on private property”.

Read more: Campaigners accuse council of ‘misinformation’ over fly-tips
Read more: Addiscombe fly-tip festering on Hermitage Lane for whole year
Read more: Croydon has worst fly-tipping record in whole of England

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