VCR amnesty hits West Cumbria

Residents from West Cumbria are to take part in an analogue video recorder recycling scheme ahead of the region's digital switchover.

On Saturday Septmber 15, the Comet store in Workington will be offering 100 customers the chance to recycle their old VCRs and take home a brand new Freeview Playback digital TV recorder, completely free of charge. For those who don't make the first 100, customers can still hand in their VCRs for recycling and get 10% discount on a Humax 9200TB digital TV recorder.

To mark the forthcoming digital switchover, all the VCRs are to be used in a sculpture, which will be unveiled in Whitehaven, West Cumbria in October in a secret location.

Ross Edwards, digital broadcasting buyer at Comet said: "We know people still like to watch videos on their VCRs but for those who want to take advantage of the latest digital TV recorders on the market, this is a great way to recycle and update your old recording technology. "

Over 1.9 million analogue VCRs and analogue DVD-Rs were bought in the UK in 2006. Research by Digital UK and Ofcom showed that 4% of people are planning to dispose of an analogue recorder come switchover by recycling it or returning it to a retailer, but 59% of recorders will be thrown away.