A woman opened her curtains to find the contents of a house on her driveway.

Karen Ironside was stunned to find a sofa, chairs, tables, a television, cooker and other items blocking her garage at the back of her house in Hillview Road, Brighton.

She asked the council's refuse department to move the mess but it refused because the items are on private land.

She was even told if she moved the junk on to the pavement, she could be fined for fly-tipping.

Ms Ironside said: "It looks like a whole house has been dumped. I was in disbelief.

"I called the council but they were unwilling to move it from private property. They suggested I got 'a man with a van'.

"I said I would move it into the road, even though I probably couldn't because there is quite a lot of stuff. They said if I did that, I could face a fine."

Ms Ironside, who is in her 40s, had parked her car at the front of her house so is unsure when the furniture was dumped.

She said it could have been on Tuesday while she was working late in Worthing.

It is thought the rubbish may have come from someone renting a garage from one of her neighbours.

Ms Ironside said: "I had to take time off work because I wanted to sort this out. It has completely ruined my day.

"I'm hoping my neighbour can sort it out. There's practically a whole house of furniture but no bed. That may turn up tonight."

A council spokeswoman said: "It's very unfortunate and we do really sympathise but the council has a statutory duty to clear anything that counts as fly-tipping only from the public highways.

"If someone has fly-tipped in a private garden, it does not come within the statutory duty of a local authority to remove it.

"Ms Ironside would not be prosecuted if she managed to get rid of the rubbish in a responsible manner.

"If she spoke to our enforcement service, we would go out and try and find the perpetrator."

She said the identity of fly-tippers could sometimes be uncovered by examining rubbish.