We need tougher fines to stop the fly-tipping blight, urge town halls
COUNCIL chiefs have demanded bigger fines for fly-tipping after offences increased by 50 per cent over six years.
Despite fly-tipping costing taxpayers tens of millions of pounds, just five per cent of court fines handed out in England in this period topped £1,000 and only 16 per cent were above £500.
This is despite incidences of illegal waste dumping soaring from 714,637 in 2012/13 to 1,072,431 in 2018/19.
The Local Government Association – which compiled the figures – said much tougher sentences were needed to deter environmental vandals after it emerged that just two offenders have been hit with the maximum £50,000 penalty since 2014.
LGA Environment spokesman David Renard, said yesterday: “Fly-tipping is not only an illegal, inexcusable and ugly blight on society – it is a serious public health risk.
Deterrent
“Councils are determined to crack down on the problem and have increased enforcement activity, including installing CCTV at fly-tipping hotspots to support successful prosecutions.
“However, prosecuting flytippers often requires timeconsuming and laborious investigations, with a high threshold of proof.
“Tougher sentences are needed to act as a stronger deterrent to criminals dumping waste.
“This is why we want to work with the Government on reviewing sentencing guidelines for flytipping – so offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences – and ensure councils have the funding needed investigate incidents.”
In one shocking case Ryan Clegg operated a clearance service on Facebook, charging customers £30 to collect large quantities of waste material.
But instead of lawfully disposing of it at a commercial waste facility, Clegg, 39, fly-tipped.
After Wiltshire Council gathered evidence against him Clegg, of Calne, pleaded guilty to two counts of fly-tipping when he was dragged in front of magistrates.
He was ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £3,275 and given 140 hours community work after his court appearance last month.
In another case Hereford delivery driver Alexandru Croitoru, 23, was fined £300 and ordered to pay costs of £200 after pleading guilty to disposing of controlled to waste without a licence. Fly-tipping has become a scourge that now costs taxpayers £58million a year to clear up as councils struggle to curb an epidemic that is blighting the nation.
Councils in England took action on nearly half a million incidents in 2018/19 – almost 5,000 more than the previous year and up by nearly 75,000 in six years.