The actions of some people who take items from the recycling shed at the Northern Civic Amenity Site and offer it for sale in shops and market stalls – despite a sign clearly stating the practice is prohibited – was raised at Ramsey Commissioners’ monthly meeting.

Rob Cowell said there had been a lot of views expressed lately on social media on the topic, and he wondered what the board’s take on it was.

Chairman Alby Oldham said: ‘There’s not a lot you can do about it. There are people who travel around the island with their vans collecting stuff. If you confront them, it’s like water off a duck’s back. They don’t care. They can claim they are being victimised.’

He said the problem lay in being able to prove the items being re-sold originated from the recycling shed. Leonard Singer suggested that invisible markers could be used to identify the items.

Juan McGuinness put an opposing point of view saying that every item removed was one fewer item that ratepayers had to pay for it to be incinerated. It might not seem much, but it all added up.

Wilf Young, too, didn’t see it as a problem: ‘It’s put there for people to take away. Whatever they do with it, it’s not our business’, he said.

Lamara Craine suggested that they display a polite reminder that items left were not to be re-sold.

‘Word goes round, people get to know who the offenders are, and they run the risk of reputational damage,’ he said.

‘That might have an effect.’