Fly tippers will still face financial penalties during lockdown, Wigan council has warned, after one resident was fined for dumping bin bags full of rubbish in a borough beauty spot.
Council staff across the country have been deployed to work on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis but Wigan town hall has said it is still investigating fly tipping complaints.
A resident in St Helens was recently hit with a fine for the part they played in a fly-tip of bin bags just off Brocstedes Road in Ashton - an area which is extremely popular with walkers.
Last month the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported on the massive increase in flytipping during the lockdown in Greater Manchester, after the region’s tips were closed.
They have since been re-opened. And Wigan council have warned that they are continuing to clamp down on anyone caught fly tipping.
Coun Paul Prescott, cabinet member for environment, said: “There is absolutely no excuse for fly tipping, it is a nuisance to our communities and costs money to clear away.
“If residents are struggling with their waste then people are free to use one of our recycling centres after Wigan became the first local authority to reopen them for essential use.
“The crackdown on fly tippers is something we can’t do on our own so we ask residents to be our eyes and ears and to report anything suspicious, especially if approached by someone offering disposal services on the cheap.”
It’s not just the fly-tippers themselves that can be prosecuted, it also means anyone who decides to take the easy option and use bogus waste collectors charging cheaper payments.
Residents who use an independent waste contractor must make sure the contractor is registered with the Environment Agency as a licensed carrier. Anyone licensed always needs to have a credit card style licence or certificate with them.
Wigan Council spends approximately £700,000 cleaning up fly-tips.
Some £120,000 has been spent on physical obstacles at notorious hotspots that prevent offenders from accessing sites easily along with another £40,000 on technological equipment in the form of covert CCTV and body cameras for enforcement staff.
The borough had seen a general decrease in fly-tipping over recent years.
According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the number of reported incidents of fly-tipping in 2018/19 stood at 1696, down from 2582 in 2014/15.
And despite being the second largest authority in Greater Manchester, the numbers put Wigan as the third best in the city region for the amount of recorded incidents and one of the only authorities to show a reduction.
Residents with information about fly-tipping which may help the council can report it via the Report It app or online at www.wigan.gov.uk
