A POPULAR Kidderminster recycling centre which sells old televisions and electrical goods to residents on low incomes is to close its doors next month, less than a year after opening.

Bosses at The Network Worcestershire, on the Firs Industrial Estate, said there was no more cash left to run the service and eight staff had been given their redundancy notices. It will close on March 1.

The demand for everything from washing machines to video players had been "phenomenal" and had benefited residents who could not afford to buy the items in the high street, said Network Worcestershire chief executive, Ellen Green.

She explained: "We have been inundated with phone calls. We have had well over 5,000 items through the centre in nine months and from the sales side of things it has been about 20 per cent of the stuff we have been able to re-use. We can't get stuff in the showroom quick enough."

Televisions sold for as little as £20 and some items had even been given away to those most in need, Mrs Green said.

She added, however, that the network's charity status meant funding problems were to blame for the closure.

"It has come as a shock to the staff and they are upset about it but it is, unfortunately, one of the risks that happens when you are working for an organisation which is reliant on grant funding."

Mrs Green added: "We are no longer sexy because we are no longer new."

Core funding from the Environment Agency had all but run out and the centre would need £100,000 just to stay open until June, she added.

"We need additional funding to come through, which hasn't happened," she said.

Councillor Marcus Hart, who is responsible for Wyre Forest District Council's kerbside recycling scheme, said the loss of the centre was a "great shame".

He added: "Things like fridges and what have you, with components, tend to be disposed of so, if they can be recycled, then that helps the whole effort."

The centre opened in April last year.