A building supplies company is encouraging people to hire tools rather than waste money buying equipment and leaving it to gather dust.

Ridgeons, which has a branch in Ashdon Road, Saffron Walden, claim research shows 45 per cent of the UK population buy tools they never or hardly use.

The survey also revealed that, on average, people spend £103 on tools that are gathering dust, while more than £2.2bn is wasted on unnecessary purchases.

Ridgeons has over 350 different lines of equipment for hire, which, according to the company, “offer an ideal alternative to equipment that is too expensive to buy and for tools that are used only occasionally”.

Gus Chichon, general manager of the Cambridge South branch, which along with the Walden outlet is also offering the service to trade and public customers, said: “We are continually updating our hire fleet to enable us to offer customers a selection of the right products to do the job.

“Being able to provide a one-stop-location for our customers, where they can buy materials and add hire items to their accounts enables us to help them to do business more easily.”

He added: “While early spring tends to be our busiest time of year, as people start to make plans for landscaping and home extensions our products can support the industry throughout the seasons.

“During these wetter and cooler winter months’ requests for submersible pumps, space heaters and dehumidifiers increase and we are well supported through our own local delivery capabilities to ensure equipment gets to customers as quickly as possible.”

Hire lines include access platforms, trestles and boards, towers, building tools, masonry and metal cutting equipment and small plant.

Visit ridgeons.co.uk/brochure/hire-guide for more information.