Council Detectives Sift Fly-Tips for Clues Near Grimsby
A microwave, a rain-soaked mattress and a pile of used syringes lay in a huge mound beside the Brocklesby Interchange near Grimsby this week. For two North East Lincolnshire Council officers, the heap was a source of evidence.
Anthony Horan, a senior environmental health practitioner, and enforcement officer Ashley Hanley went through the waste in protective gear and thick gloves. They found letters carrying different names and addresses, all miles outside the council area, and photographed them. "I'm gobsmacked at the amount of evidence in this one," Horan said. About 20 syringes were collected to be destroyed. "I'm disgusted at the needles. I've never found this amount ever," he said.
If evidence identifies a person, that person will be questioned. Anyone found liable could be fined if they have not met their "domestic duty of care". "A lot of people think enviro-crime or fly-tipping is a victimless crime," Horan said. "It's not, there's many victims."
The man with a van
Horan said people often hire a "man with a van" to take their waste away, and the person hired frequently just dumps it. When waste lands on private property, the owner has to pay for its removal. Councils pay only when it is on public land. Hanley advised people to give waste only to someone who holds a waste carriage licence, and to take it to a proper waste facility if they do the job themselves.
The Environment Agency says waste criminals "scar our environment and communities". It says illegal dumping costs the public purse £1bn a year and asks the public to report suspected waste crime through its incident hotline or website.
In August, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said fly-tipping fines would rise from £300 to £5,000, and offenders could be given up to nine points on their driving licence.
Across the Humber
Hull City Council's Streetscene team was clearing a fly-tip in the middle of a housing estate. In Hull the fine is higher, at £1,000. "It's all over the city and now it's on the rise," said Mike, one of the men loading mattresses and planks onto a truck.
Team manager Carl Wilson said the spot is a hotspot and that offenders will probably return. "This will all get cleared away and then in a couple of weeks they'll probably do it again," he said. "That's why you need this evidence to catch them." The council often visits such places to deliver letters to residents on how to dispose of waste properly.
The North East Lincolnshire team's message to fly-tippers was this. "Don't do it because we'll catch you," an officer said. "We don't want to be doing this, we want you to do the correct thing."
Source: BBC News