Fly-tippers caught on camera

Council could install more CCTV to tackle increasing litter problem

Fly-tippers and lorry drivers ditching their rubbish could soon be caught on camera as plans to install more CCTV are discussed.

Council bosses want to eradicate a growing problem and say the authority is keen to spend money if it can get results.

The cameras would have a long lens capability and be able to capture images with a 90-metre range.

Council officers, paid £25 an hour, will then trawl through the footage and identify the culprits.

Speaking at a recent rural area member panel meeting, the city council’s head of safer neighbourhoods, Doug Rattray, said: “Certain areas seem to attract fly-tipping.

“The parish councils simply need to tell us where there are hotspots and then we will catch them. Recently we have placed small cameras behind bushes where they can’t be seen at places we know are regular hotspots.

“That has been successful in detecting offenders and they are not particularly expensive, about £300 at a time.”

CCTV cameras were deployed by the council to help catch the fly-tippers outside the Share and Coulter pub in Owls Hatch Road, Greenhill.

Mr Rattray, who says the authority does not currently use all of its available cameras, warned that signs must be erected at the locations to advise people they are being filmed.

He also highlighted the potential risk of cameras getting stolen or broken.

“You’re not allowed to just shove a camera where there aren’t normally cameras,” he said.

“In the high street you can have CCTV as people understand there are going to be cameras, but in rural areas where you wouldn’t expect them, you have to put signs up.”

Regarding the issue of catching lorry drivers dropping waste, Mr Rattray said: “The key would be identifying areas where it is happening regularly.

“If we get a registration number then we can get onto them but a lot of the lorries are foreign so that brings problems of identifying and holding them to account.”

Cllr Ben Fitter-harding says it is worth the effort to catch the offenders.

He said: “I’m more than happy to see money being used to pay for officer time to watch footage.

“I appreciate that in some areas littering may be more infrequent – meaning more footage needs to be watched. But if it means we can use them in wider area then I would be happy with that.”