Gift idea may turn out to be a bum deal
A SELKIRK businesswoman is being threatened with possible prosecution if she continues with plans for an online gift ordering company that would include the sending of cow and dog excrement through the post.
Mother-of-three Charlotte Waugh, who lives on a farm, came up with the idea for youarea.co.uk, which includes gift boxes of dung, after seeing a photograph on the internet of a woman packaging dog droppings.
The service lets customers write a personalised message and pick a matching gift from an online range which has been separated into three sections – entitled 'nice', nasty' and 'extravagant'.
So while a 'nice' gift box reading 'You Are A Star' would include a present from a range of gifts such as luxury chocolate or silver earrings, others bearing the message 'You Are A Sh*t' would be filled with vacuum-packed cow pats or dog faeces.
The 'nasty' boxes have been devised as a tongue-in-cheek alternative to more traditional gifts and, with a fully-personalised messaging system available through the site, customers are able to explain exactly why they have sent the gift to the lucky or unlucky recipient.
Mrs Waugh, 43, hopes the service will prove popular among people with a uniquely British sense of humour who often struggle to find the perfect present for their friends and family.
"It seemed like a great idea," she said. "Sometimes people want to send an amusing present to their friends, so I thought we should offer them the option of sending a gift box filled with dung.
"The droppings get vacuum-packed before they go in the box and it's all 100 per cent natural. It's a great, unusual present that I'm sure will be popular with a lot of people with a sense of humour."
However, a Royal Mail spokesperson warned: "Royal Mail delivers thousands of items every day and, of course, we would be concerned if the health and safety of our staff were to be put at risk.
"Any form of excrement is deemed hazardous by Royal Mail and we will not carry this material. It will be returned to the sender or destroyed, and in some cases the sender may face prosecution."
And staff at Scottish Borders Council's environmental health services department also have expressed concerns over her plans.
A spokesperson told us: "SBC's environmental health team were unaware of this company's offerings, but can confirm that we would have concerns about how this material is handled.
"E-coli organisms, possibly including e-coli 0157, will be present in cow dung which could affect both packers and recipients of material.
"We have made contact with the proprietor seeking a meeting to discuss this issue."
But Mrs Waugh says she has contacted all the relevant authorities, including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and they have given her business the all-clear.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Selkirk
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
