Fly-tipping
Fly-tipping is the illegal deposit of any waste onto land that does not have a licence to accept it.
Tipping a mattress, electrical items or a bin bag full of rubbish in the streets causes a local nuisance and makes an area look ugly and run down. At the larger end of the scale fly-tipping can involve several truckloads of construction and demolition waste being tipped on different types of land.
Fly-tipping is often carried out by 鈥渕an with a van鈥 waste collectors who will offer to take household waste away for a sum of money and then fly-tip it down country lanes; the obvious example is garden waste.
Fly-tipping is a serious criminal offence for which you can be prosecuted. The courts have various powers available to them to tackle fly-tipping including imprisonment, unlimited fines and an order to deprive rights to a vehicle used to commit the offence.
As a householder you must check that the person who is offering to remove your waste has a valid because if your waste is fly-tipped by this person and the waste is found to have originate from your house and you can鈥檛 provide evidence that the person was authorised to carry it, you may be prosecuted too.
Businesses have a Duty of Care to have their waste removed by a registered Waste Carrier such as their local council or other waste companies. If your business waste, like a householder, is found to have been fly-tipped or you fly-tip it yourself to avoid paying for disposal costs, the fines in Crown Court are unlimited and could lead to up to 5 years in prison.).
How do I contact my local council to report fly-tipping?
All fly-tipping needs to be report to the local council where the offence has taken place. Most of the district council have forms to report fly-tipping online where you can highlight its location on a map and upload photos if you have any.