Council slam fly-tippers
HALTON Council has slammed “irresponsible individuals” with “no regard for others” as it warned residents to beware tip run offers advertised on social media.
The local authority has warned residents of recent trends, including a rise in informal “man in a van” offers on social media that result in fly-tipping around Runcorn and Widnes.
The local authority said rubbish is often dumped by unscrupulous services used to dispose of waste and not the people who produced it.
A Halton Borough Council spokesman said residents can still be fined – or even prosecuted – if they fail in their legal “duty of care” to make sure they use a registered carrier to take away the rubbish.
To protect themselves from being fined for the actions of fly-tippers, residents are advised to check any individual or company used is a registered waste carrier, note down their waste carrier number, ask for their full address and telephone number, and record the registration number of any vehicle removing waste from their home.
Readers will be familiar with shocking images of piles of dumped rubbish and waste, ranging from a few bin bags – which often tear leaving their contents strewn about – to vast patches of blight.
The local authority issued a statement about government data was published showing Halton had suffered reports of nearly two fly-tipping incidents a day (1.89) between 2012 and 2020, totalling a staggering 5,524 reports.
This was down to 1.25 a day in 2019-20, and 3.5 per 1,000 residents.
Despite thousands of reports in the borough, Halton ‘s rate was far lower than the North West average of 15.7, and the English average of 17.3.
A Halton Council spokesman said it was “good” the borough was better than average but continued incidents were “regrettable”.
He said: “Sadly, the fly-tipping is caused by irresponsible individuals who have no regard for their local environment or the impact that their actions will have on others.
“We always respond to clear flytipping as quickly as we can and, if as part of the removal of waste, we gather any information to suggest where it originated from, or who may have been responsible for flytipping it, our enforcement team will investigate and will always take enforcement action where we have sufficient evidence.”
Residents are urged to use a registered waste service to dispose of their rubbish.
The spokesman said: “We are aware of many incidences of householders paying a ‘man in a van’ to take away their unwanted waste only for it to then be fly-tipped.
“We want residents to be aware that where fly-tipped waste is traced back to a householder who is found to have failed in their duty-of-care obligations, they themselves face being issued with a fixed penalty notice, or prosecution and a fine.
“There are an increasing number of individuals offering services to take away waste and provide ‘tip runs’, particularly on social media.
“We want to ensure that householders are aware of, and comply with, their duty of care requirements to help them avoid falling victim to fly-tippers, and running the risk of action being taken against themselves as a result.”
Report information about fly-tipping to Halton Borough Council by calling 0151 511 7599 or by emailing FPN@halton.gov.uk