Lockdown leads to flytipping surge

Tip closures and a surge in home renovation projects have seen people across Greater Manchester flout lockdown rules to dump rubbish on our streets.

At a time when town halls are being pushed to breaking point to keep services running, many are also reporting a rise in the amount of flytipping incidents they are having to deal with.

Pictures from across the region show overflowing bin bags, sodden duvets, mattresses, broken furniture and tyres, as well as tissues and toilet roll have all been dumped at beauty spots and roadsides.

Rochdale, Tameside, Salford and Wigan councils have all reported increases in their boroughs in the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK.

It comes as Recycle for Greater Manchester made the decision to close all its tips ‘until further notice’ to protect staff and comply with the government’s lockdown requirements.

There have been more than 300 incidents in Tameside since March 16 – the date on which Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the public to work from home and stop unnecessary travel.

In Rochdale, the number of fly-tipping incidents in March leapt from 656 in 2019, up to 887 this year.

One especially rank incident saw more than 60 boxes of frozen chicken dumped a mile apart at Birchinley Manor car park and Firgrove Playing Fields.

Collyhurst has been one of the biggest hotspots in Manchester, with one resident reporting numerous offences around Eggington Street.

He said: “We keep reporting it to the city council, but as soon as it is removed, more is dumped in.

"To be surrounded by people’s rubbish is no way to live.”

Manchester council could not confirm how many flytipping offences it had dealt with in the last three weeks.

But a spokesperson said they were currently reviewing evidence which they hope will lead to a prosecution after mountains of black bags, broken furniture and an old sofa were left on Sand Street in Collyhurst.

Officers are able to use mobile CCTV cameras at ‘known hotspots’ across the city, but the town hall could not give locations ‘as this could undermine our ongoing efforts to investigate criminal behaviour and take the culprits to court’.

“We are asking residents to recycle as much as possible and not to put out bulky items such as furniture and white goods,” the spokesperson added.

“Clearing out unwanted furniture, electrical items or garden waste is not essential at this time and residents are being asked to wait until normal service can be resumed before seeking to do this.

“Residents should also be aware that leaving items outside of household waste recycling centres is flytipping, will be investigated and could lead to prosecution.”

In Rochdale a large amount of rubbish – including a suitcase, garden furniture and a bed’s headboard – was also tipped at Dig Gate Lane, Milnrow, while what appear to be building supplies were found at Riverside Drive, in Smallbridge.

Town hall chiefs say residents have often fallen-prey to unlicensed ‘man with a van’ waste carriers, leaving themselves at risk of prosecution.

But Coun Neil Emmott, Rochdale’s cabinet member for environment, has warned that dumping rubbish will not be tolerated, even in the current circumstances.

He said: “Businesses large and small should all have a contract or arrangement with a registered waste disposal company – so the closure of these sites cannot be used as an excuse.

“Just last week we received a further report of a large scale fly-tip which we have investigated and secured evidence.

"Thank you to residents for reporting this quite frankly disgusting behaviour.”

In Tameside, chiefs say they have seen a rise in the number of incidents of household and commercial waste being dumped on the borough’s streets in the past three weeks.

Photos show piles of black bin bags, sofas, tyres and other mouldering rubbish being left on the sides of roads around the borough.

Despite staff shortages caused by the virus and isolation, the council has doubled capacity in its flytipping team to deal with and investigate the issue.

This is despite the town hall admitting its resources are ‘stretched to the limit’ as it responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

Officers have found nine different name and addresses from the locations of flytipped waste which enforcement will be following up.

Oldham, Stockport and Trafford town halls said they were not yet experiencing an uplift in flytipping on the same scale as other boroughs.

But they also warned that they would not hesitate to prosecute when incidents did occur.

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