Shocking scale of fly-tipping

Nothing raises the hackles of residents like fly-tipping.

Dumped rubbish scars the landscape of Sunderland – whether it be country lanes or back streets.

And the cost of cleaning up after either lazy residents or rogue operators is unacceptable to a hard-pressed local authority operating under budget restraints.

The scale of Sunderland’s waste dumping problem is truly shocking as new figures illustrate.

Department of the Environment statistics show that the city council is dealing with on average more than 20 cases of illegally dumped rubbish every day, with 9,055 fly-tipping incidents in the 12 months to March, one of the highest numbers of any local authority in England.

This was an increase of 54% from the previous year.

The most common type of waste dumped in Sunderland was household waste, which accounted for 3,581 incidents, followed by black bags of household rubbish.

Waste was most commonly dumped on back alleyways.

Clearing up the rubbish and taking action against perpetrators is estimated to have cost the council about £849,500 last year – that’s a massive amount of money for a local authority having to make budget cuts.

And it’s not as though Sunderland City Council is sitting idle.

Between April and September of this year, the council has carried out 2,093 investigations, sent out 1,138 warnings and notices and issued 60 fixed penalty notices and fines.

Coun Amy Wilson, SunderlandCityCouncil’sCabinetMember for Environment, has urged people to take an active part in cracking down on fly-tipping by reporting any incidents.

The Echo is also continuing its Clean Streets campaign, which is calling on Wearsiders to be more responsible for their own waste in an effort to build a cleaner, more inviting and more welcoming city.

Anyone who sees items they think have been fly-tipped on a street or green space can contact Sunderland City Council to arrange its removal either by reporting it online at sunderland. gov.ukorbycalling01915205550.