A CENTRE selling cheap refurbished electrical goods to poorer families cannot find £100,000 to stay open - and £1m already invested will be wasted.

The not-for-profit organisation Network (Worcestershire) was launched in April 2004 to repair and test electrical goods like fridges and washing machines, which would then be sold to poorer families in the county.

The items would also be saved from taking up precious landfill space, but it does not have the funds to carry on past Wednesday, March 2.

The project is based on the Firs Industrial Estate in Kidderminster, and serves families throughout the county

Unfortunately, the project will fold before a European directive comes into force in August. This would have allowed the Network to start reclaiming their recovery costs from the appliance manufacturers forced to hand over cash to help recycle the unwanted, but useable goods.

"At the moment we have eight staff. They were given redundancy notices last week, said Ellen Green, the Network's Chief Executive.

"We are talking to anybody and everybody about possible partnership and sponsorship opportunities, but we are still pretty desperate.

"This is extremely bad news, not just for the project but also for the people of Worcester, who will not be able to benefit from the cheap goods we produced."

"When we close, that will be it - £1m is already invested in the centre and that will be lost.

She said they had saved 100 tonnes of electrical goods from landfill sites.

Local authorities have targets to reduce the amount of waste they dump in landfill.

Items beyond repair are dismantled, sorted and sold as scrap.

The project was also set to start providing training for people interested in electrical appliance repair, warehousing, and other vocational skills.

"It seems farcical to close purely for want of £100,000, when so much money is being allocated to recycling and waste minimisation and so much concern is being raised by fly-tipping and fridge mountains," she said.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said it was bad news for the people of Worcestershire and the environment.

"These items that would have been saved will now have to go to landfill, and we hope the Network will be able to overcome their current situation," said an EA spokesman.