Staff from Horsham’s Red Cross Shop said the bottle was among other ‘rubbish’ dumped at the front of their Firebrace store.

Manager Lynne Eckersley said she found the rubbish on the pavement about noon.

‘‘There was nothing we could salvage out of it – nothing in the box worth anyone taking,’’ she said.

‘‘It was just dumped out the front with a sign saying ‘free’.’’

Ms Eckersley said other items included an old and dirty Esky, tarp, rope and a water container.

‘‘We have never had anything like that in the store,’’ she said.

‘‘We think it might have been a couple of campers down by the river who dumped it before they got a bus out of town.

‘‘It’s not stuff you would use in your house.’’

Ms Eckersley said kerosene was the most concerning item.

‘‘We really got upset about that. What if a child had picked it up, or teenagers saw it and realised it was flammable?’’ she said.

Horsham Mayor Mark Radford said the behaviour was disappointing and disrespectful.

‘‘All of these charities make themselves available to accept second-hand goods and some people take advantage of that by dumping junk because they think it’s easier than going to the tip,’’ he said.

‘‘People who work at these shops are volunteers and they have to sort through this stuff.

‘‘It lets down the rest of the community.’’

Cr Radford said similar incidents at Horsham charity stores happened about twice a year.

‘‘At the Salvos, we’ve had to install video cameras for security,’’ he said.

Cr Radford said cameras could be an option for the Red Cross store.

Ms Eckersley urged people with proper donations to use the donations bin outside the store or to take the items in store.

‘‘We’re desperate for donations, just not rubbish,’’ she said.

Ms Eckersley said staff had disposed of the rubbish.