Fine for allowing fly-tipping

HOUSEHOLDERS who fail to check if “man in van” companies are legitimate before having their rubbish taken away could be hit with £400 on-the-spot fines if it is fly-tipped.

The Government is considering allowing councils to impose fixed penalty notices on those who “fail to take all reasonable measures” to make sure a business is registered to transport waste in a crackdown on illegal dumping. In 2016-17, councils in England dealt with around one million fly-tipping incidents, up seven per cent on the previous year and costing £57.7 million. A lot of the fly-tipping is the result of using unauthorised companies.

Thérèse Coffey, the environment minister, said: “Fly-tipping blights our communities and we need determined action to tackle it. These new powers will curb the rise of waste sites that continue to operate outside the law.”

The Government added that “under no circumstances should regulators use fixed penalty notices as a means to generate income”.