Campaigners urge action as fly-tipping figures rise

FLY-TIPPING figures have climbed again this year, prompting new calls for action to tackle the problem that blights streets, alleyways, farmland and woods.

Anti-litter campaigners warn part of the problem is a rise in the “Facebook fly-tipper”, with an increase in people advertising cheap waste services online and on social media and then illegally dumping the waste.

Keep Britain Tidy is launching national campaign – Crime Not To Care – to educate the public on their responsibilities.

There are also concerns that councils facing squeezed budgets are reducing free collection services, which can lead to fly-tipping. Keep Britain Tidy wants the UK Government to use some of the £1bn collected in landfill tax to support and improve recycling infrastructure, preventing closures or restrictions on services.

Retailers should take some responsibility for the cost of collecting and recycling large used products which are commonly fly-tipped, including mattresses and white goods such as fridges, campaigners and town halls say.

The Government last May gave local authorities the power to issue fines of up to £400 to those caught in the act of fly-tipping, instead of having to take them to court.

The latest fly-tipping figures, which cover the financial year 2015/2016, do not yet show if the new powers have helped reduce the problem.

But analysis of the first eight months of the scheme revealed that while hundreds of thousands of pounds in fines had been handed out, more than half of local authorities had not used the powers.