FLY-TIPPERS carried three large fridges across two lanes of the M8, heaved them over a protection barrier and then dumped them on the central reservation.

A squad from road firm Amey spotted the fridges, which were covered in graffiti, at the Charing Cross interchange in Glasgow.

Suggestions because of their positioning that the fridges were actually a bizarre urban art installation cut no ice with the workers who were travelling back to their Tannochside depot at around 3am. They alerted duty engineer Stewart Croly, whose team removed them.

The fridges were on a sharp bend where traffic travels at 50mph and workers had to close a carriageway to enable staff to safely remove the fridges.

It affected peak time traffic as the clear-up was not completed until well after it was light.

The company slammed those who abandoned the fridges, claiming their actions were "dangerous and stupid".

Mr Croly said: "Battling fly-tipping and litter is a continual task for us, but this must be our strangest discovery.

"The fridges are really bulky and heavy, so it would have taken a couple of people to carry them across two lanes of the motorway and clear the barrier.

"The motorway is no place for pedestrians and the people who did this are lucky to be alive. This was a really dangerous and stupid example of fly-tipping."

The incident was reported to police and officers checked closed-circuit television cameras, but the incident was not caught on tape.

A spokeswoman for Keep Scotland Beautiful said fridges contain CFCs, dangerous chemicals which damage the ozone layer.

She added: "People should be finding out from the local authority the most appropriate way of getting rid of them.

"We have never come across an incident with so many fridges before, but there are many fly-tipping incidents across the country of a variety of items."

David McPherson, the organisation's national fly-tipping officer, said: "Dumping unwanted items in neighbourhoods or on roadsides carries a maximum fine of £40,000.

"I would urge people to find out about, and use, the local bulky uplift service offered by their local authority, or take their waste to a recycling centre."