Council campaign to tackle fly-tipping delivering results

Luton council’s campaign to help tackle fly-tipping in the town has contributed towards 191 fixed penalty noticed being issued and paid over the last year.

The notices were issued for range of offences resulting from fly tipping investigations, some of which have resulted from the evidence found by the council’s Fly-tipping Response Crews who were recruited at the start of this year.

Residents are being asked to work with the council to help them identify offenders through the Wall of Shame campaign making regular appeals on social media. Videos and images have featured some of the town’s fly-tipping hotspots and people have been asked to help name and shame those responsible. The aim is to ensure Luton’s streets are clean and safe, and that neighbourhoods are a pleasant place to live.

Along with the request for help from the public the fly-tipping crews, who find and collect the rubbish, capture evidence and then refer it across for onward investigation, have been proactively visiting problem areas. This has led to a number of prosecutions.

Councillor Abbas Hussain portfolio holder for Neighbourhood Services and Community Safety, said: "Fly-tipping is not acceptable to our residents and we are tired of people leaving rubbish on our streets. These penalty notices demonstrate that we are watching and we will take action. We have a number of cases awaiting prosecution following non-payment of fixed penalty notices and also have a number of cases where an investigation is still ongoing or awaiting payment of recently issued fixed penalty notices.

“No one has the right to dump their household waste just because they can’t be bothered to take it to one of our tidy tips or organise a bulky waste collection and residents on benefits can receive special collections free of charge. We want to send a clear message that we have a zero-tolerance approach to this criminal behaviour and are asking residents who follow the rules to get on board with this and help us."

When having a clear out, moving house or carrying out DIY, residents must take appropriate steps to ensure they give their waste to a licensed carrier. If they don’t and their rubbish is found dumped and it’s tracked back to them, they will be prosecuted or receive a fixed penalty notice. People are also being reminded that disposing of waste in the wrong place, including extra sacks of waste next to their rubbish bins is also fly-tipping and most importantly it’s a crime. The council will be watching and offenders will receive fines or prosecution if caught.

You can check if someone is authorised with your local Environment Agency office on 03708 506 506 or you can check online at www.gov.uk/access-the-public-register-for-environmental-information

To view the videos, images and get in touch visit.

www.luton.gov.uk/wallofshame