Fly-tippers to be hunted with drones in government crackdown

• The UK government is implementing a new crackdown on fly-tipping, with plans to seize and crush vehicles to battle what it calls an “avalanche of rubbish”.
• Drones and mobile CCTV vans will be deployed to identify culprits, who could face up to five years in prison under new legislation.
• The government aims to streamline the process for councils to confiscate and destroy vehicles, while also ensuring fly-tippers bear the crushing costs.
• The initiative comes as fly-tipping incidents in England exceed 1.1 million annually, with a significant rise since 2018 despite a decrease in prosecutions.
• Countryside leaders warn that official figures underestimate the problem, as they exclude waste dumped on private land, impacting farmers and rural businesses.

IN FULL

Fly-tippers will have their vehicles crushed under new crackdown on ‘waste cowboys’