A discarded Dyson vacuum cleaner and a cupboard were among refuse dumped in a skip provided by Barnet Council — for unwanted chametz.

Two weeks before Pesach, the council had placed skips in 17 streets across the borough for chametz waste, as it has done for the past 10 years.

In one skip in Hendon, a pile of rubbish, including paint tins and wood, overflowed across the pavement.

Residents complained that people had dumped rubbish at the skip site even if a skip was not present. One, who asked not to be named, said she had seen non-Jews approaching a skip near her home with old carpet.

“At the time, a Barnet Council employee was present who turned them away. I was allowed to place my sacks of chametz rubbish on the skip.”

Barnet Council said the supervisor in charge of the Pesach skips had organised a back-up vehicle to clear the excess rubbish. Another resident described the council workers as “fantastic” for coming to clear the overflow so quickly.

The council said in a statement: “Signs are placed at each skip site stating that the skip is provided for Chometz on Pesach.

“All Passover skip sites are clearly marked with these official notice boards and people who want to use them are asked to help keep each site clean and tidy.

“We encourage people not to use the skips to dispose of other waste such as bulky household goods, builders waste, rubble and hardcore. A neighbourhood skip service is provided in every street twice a year for residents to dispose of other rubbish.”