New Balance outlet dumps shoes on high street in Cumbria

Following the expected closure of its retail store in Snap, New Balance is facing criticism after dumping hundreds of trainers on a Cumbrian high street.

The Cumbrian store, which offered New Balance footwear at a lower retail price, has not reopened since closing for Christmas. The shoes, which were left initially left in a skip outside the shop, have been moved to the pavement by the public as people began to look for free footwear.

New Balance is now facing criticism for not donating the unused trainers to a charity organisation.

Jonathan Davies, a Penrith town councillor, commented: "There were shoes everywhere... it was Shoemageddon... I was quite shocked that New Balance has just thrown them all out when Shap has a charity shop, for example."

Richard Lendon, who runs the nearby Abbey Kitchen café, added: "It sums up our wasteful world. There is a recycling point opposite the shop, a primary school that could have possibly helped and a charity shop in the village which brand new footwear such as this could have been donated to."

In response, a US-based spokesman for New Balance said: "A general contractor doing work on-site had cleared old stock items from our store, including single shoes that could not be paired, damaged products and samples.

"While efforts were made to recycle or donate as many items as possible, we are currently re-evaluating our procedures to ensure the utmost rigour is applied when determining what can be appropriately recycled or donated."