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Belfast council accused of 'handling stolen goods' for storing bonfire pallets

Pallets being collected for a loyalist bonfire near the Holiday Inn, Belfast city centre. Picture by Mal McCann
Pallets being collected for a loyalist bonfire near the Holiday Inn, Belfast city centre. Picture by Mal McCann Pallets being collected for a loyalist bonfire near the Holiday Inn, Belfast city centre. Picture by Mal McCann

BELFAST City Council has been accused of "handling stolen goods" for storing loyalist bonfire materials which include many for-hire pallets owned by a supply-chain firm.

The Irish News yesterday revealed the council is holding in storage hundreds of pallets for loyalists building a notorious Twelfth bonfire.

Council vans removed the pallets at the weekend from a city centre site near the Holiday Inn, close to Sandy Row.

The pallets are being stored in a council yard and are expected to be returned to the bonfire builders in time for the Twelfth.

Nationalist councillors have expressed outrage, and party group leaders are set to meet with the council chief executive today to discuss the controversy.

The council had initially said some 1,500 pallets were removed from the bonfire site, but yesterday admitted an error and revised the figure to around 300.

Many of the pallets have branding from Chep, a firm that provides pallet-pooling services for retail and industrial supply chains. Its pallets are recognisable for their blue colour.

Sinn Féin councillor Jim McVeigh, the party's group leader, said they are "extremely angry" and were not consulted.

He said if the pallets are returned to the bonfire site, the council would be "complicit" in the offensive displays on some pyres such as the burning of tricolours.

Mr McVeigh also expressed concerns on the availability of Chep pallets, but added: "There's implications for the council for handling what some people might view as stolen goods."

The SDLP's Donal Lyons described the arrangement as "unbelievable".

"The Sandy Row site has been a long-running problem. Not only do ratepayers have to pick up the bill for the clean-up, we're now paying for the storage," he said.

"I've also asked the council as a matter of urgency to ensure that no stolen material, pallets or otherwise, inadvertently passes through their hands and ends up on the bonfire."

Belfast City Council strongly dismissed concerns over the ownership of the pallets.

"Currently there is no evidence to substantiate claims made on social media that any of the pallets have been stolen," a spokesman said.

"As theft would be a police matter, we urge anyone who believes they have been the victim of a theft to report it to the PSNI."

The council said staff removed the pallets from the site "in agreement with the local community".

"Council works with communities and statutory agencies to minimise the negative impacts of bonfires at sites across the city," the spokesman said.

He added that "no arrangements have been made as yet for the return of the material back to the bonfire site".

Chep did not comment yesterday. In 2013, the firm said it would "never" donate its pallets to Twelfth bonfires, and urged the public to get in touch if they spotted any Chep pallets being used "illegally".