A homeware store has responded to a viral video of a man finding donated items discarded in a wheelie bin.

The dumpster diver discovered “brand new” bedding at the back of Dunelm in London Road Retail Park, Maidstone.

The video was originally posted on TikTok in July 2022 by @dumpsterdivinguk1 but recently resurfaced after it was uploaded again on Friday, March 8.

It shows two men searching a general waste bin behind the store and pulling out a Silentnight mattress topper, king-size duvet, and duck feather pillows, sheets and towels.

Dumpster diving is a way of salvaging unwanted items from large commercial, residential, industrial and construction containers.

Dunelm sells a range of bedding, curtains, beds and mattresses.

In 2020, the company introduced a “Textile Take Back Scheme” – where customers could drop off unwanted items to be reused or recycled.

On their website, it states: “We accept all home textiles, including clothing. Just remember, we can only accept clean, bagged textiles, but it's fine if they're ripped or torn.

“All contributions will be rehomed or recycled, after a thorough inspection process.

“Our aim is to keep products in use for as long as possible, so we’ll only recycle textiles when they’ve reached the end of their useful life.

“Textiles that are ready to be recycled are combined with other post-consumer sources and repurposed into new items as part of our Conscious Choice Remade collection.

“These products are made from at least 40% pre-loved materials, which we think gives them an extra feel-good factor.”

The TikTok clip has more than 520,000 views and over 4,000 likes.

Hundreds of people commented saying that the items should have been donated to charity instead of being thrown away.

Suzanne commented: “They have collection bins in the front of that shop for old used items! I can’t believe they just chucked it!”

Avril added: “Animal rescues would welcome the towels and bedding I’m sure.”

After the video was reposted, Dunelm responded to the allegations.

A spokeswoman said: “We are aware of this historic video which was initially posted over 18 months ago.

“It reflects an isolated incident at our Maidstone store when our usual high standards were not upheld.

“Measures have been introduced to ensure this will not happen again.

“We remain fully committed to our important textile take-back service which collects an average of 70 tonnes of textiles a month across all our stores.

“Of the total textiles donated by our customers, around 70% is reused and 30% is recycled.”