Surprise fly-tipping find for mayor in northeast France

Fly-tipping is a common enough occurrence in France that it often makes the newspapers - but one recent story is possibly the most surprising.

In recent years, we have reported that authorities have launched an app so the public can report instances of fly-tipping; we have also covered the story of the mayor who returned 10 tonnes of fly-tipped waste to its owner; the return of Christmas refuse, to the dismay of the person who dumped it; and the department drones taking to the skies to combat the problem.

There are plenty of other stories, too.

But the one about the mayor in Meurthe-et-Moselle takes some beating. About 15 120-litre rubbish bags were abandoned near a former military hospital at Lunéville, L'Est Républicain reports.

Before alerting local law enforcement, the commune's mayor took a look inside one of the bags - and discovered a wedding ring, necklaces, earrings, and even a quantity of money. The mayor also found documents identifying the owner - a recently deceased nearby resident.

It turned out that the deceased heirs had cleared the property, and decided to dump the bags, rather than sort through them, without realising the value of what was inside.

Their property has been returned - along with a fine notice.