A POOLE man’s home has been professionally decluttered and he could be £750 better off as a result.

Tony Stevens from Churchfield Road won a session with TV personality and declutter expert Jamie Breese, having entered a national competition on Gumtree.com.

The online classified service is encouraging households to have a spring clean and convert their clutter to cash.

Research has found that the average UK household is sitting on a treasure trove of £3,540-worth of unwanted or unused items.

“We started off having a great rummage in his loft – it turned out to be a gadget graveyard with everything from an old TV, hi-fi, printer, X-Box console and games, sewing machine, as well as the usual old clothes, holdalls, and garden furniture up there,” said Jamie.

“Within an hour we had worked out what to sell, and also set aside some items for the tip.

“Downstairs we started in the lounge, and the total value of Tony’s clutter soon started to increase.

“As well as hundreds of CDs and DVDs, we also found several highly-collectible items.

“These included a 1980s Royal Doulton Bunnykins money box, a fully-functioning post-war German camera, and a relatively rare Liberty’s hammered tudric pewter jug.”

With the items from the attic and lounge promising enough cash to build a website and print business cards for his new gold-plating company, Tony has promised to carry on through the rest of the house, converting his clutter to cash.

“It was a very informative and helpful day; I had no idea of the value of items that I’ve been hoarding for years,” he said.

“At times Jamie had to be quite hard with me – I like keeping things, and often think that they will come in useful someday.

“I am also quite emotionally attached to some of the items we were going through, even though there is no real reason why.

“But once you realise that they can actually make money, and also help free up space, then a good declutter definitely makes sense.”