WC fly-tipping crackdown

8.50.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 5th Jul 2010

Wiltshire Council (WC) is cracking down on fly tippers, and reminding householders and businesses of the importance of handling waste properly.

Fly tipping is a criminal offence with a maximum fine of £50,000 and up to six months imprisonment.

The council also wishes to make sure householders are aware of their responsibilities when employing anyone to remove waste from their property. This could include waste produced by gardening or building work. The property owners have a legal duty to ensure waste is only removed by an authorised carrier registered with the Environment Agency.

Failure to obtain a waste transfer note displaying the company name and address plus their waste carriers licence number could result in a £5,000 fine for the householder.

In 2009-10 there were 1,439 fly tipping incidents in the Wiltshire Council area costing the authority more than £130,000 in collection and disposal costs.

The council issued 127 statutory notices, carried out documentation checks on 68 businesses, issued 11 formal cautions and undertook two successful prosecutions, one to a householder for passing their waste to an unlicensed carrier.

Cabinet member for highways and transport, Dick Tonge, said: "We don't want to spend our time prosecuting people who fly tip or don't dispose of their waste properly, but we can't allow the irresponsible few to get away with it.

"We are going to crack down on this. Almost everybody complains bitterly about the few who fly tip and litter our roads and countryside. The financial penalties for ignoring the law are severe."

Since April, more than 10 cases have been referred to the council's legal team, with four formal cautions already issued and a number of full prosecutions likely.

The council has also increased its involvement with the police, working together on vehicle stop checks, improved evidence sharing and workshop training sessions.