Fly-tipping bill soars to £70,000

RUBBISH plight . . . the mess left by travellers on Oldham Edge playing fields earlier this year

NEARLY £70,000 of taxpayers’ money has been wasted clearing up fly-tipping in Oldham — almost triple last year’s cost.

Oldham council was left facing an estimated clean up bill of £69,770 last year for 1,525 incidents, new figures revealed.

This compared with £26,380 the previous year for 484 cases.

But despite the cost rising, the council is cracking down on dumpers with 45 successful prosecutions in 2007-08, one of the highest numbers for any local authority in the country.

A council spokesman said: “Oldham Council is continuing its fight against fly-tipping, a problem that not only blights communities in the borough, but is also a serious heath hazard.

“In 1999 the council formed the environmental crime team, whose job it is to investigate incidents of dumping and trace those responsible.

“The team not only investigates cases of dumped waste and prosecutes when necessary, but also attempts to reduce incidents by making sure businesses have legitimate means of disposing of waste.

“By working with the police and other agencies the team has been carrying out spot checks on vehicles carrying waste to check whether or not they are properly licensed.

“The team also deploys hidden CCTV equipment at known fly-tipping hotspots to catch them in the act.”

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Phil Woolas added: “The council comes in for lots of criticism some of it fair and some of it unfair. With the high number of prosecutions, it is bang to rights.”

The figures were recorded on the Flycapture database, set up by the Department for Environment to track fly-tipping incidents.

The Government calculated the clean-up cost figures according to the details of each incident.

Nationally there was 1.24 million incidents of fly-tipping recorded in 2007-2008, with 11 per cent of cases involving single black bags and 60 per cent involving household waste.

Ministers have warned councils to get tough on the problem and are currently consulting with the Environment Agency and local authorities to strengthen stop-and-seize powers for vehicles used to commit fly tipping.

Waste Minister Jane Kennedy said: “Fly-tipping is unacceptable and a blight on public land.

“Local authorities are doing well in the fight against fly-tipping, and the increased number of successful prosecutions is encouraging. No one should have to accept fly-tipping in their area.”