Four fly-tippers have been slapped with £400 fines after being caught dumping rubbish around Bury.
Bury Council recently introduced fixed penalty notices for the illegal dumping of waste as an alternative to the often lengthy and costly process of taking offenders to court.
Extra enforcement officers have been taken on in a bid to crackdown on fly-tipping around the borough.
It comes after the number of incidents in Bury increased by a third from 2,998 in 2019/20 to 3,898 in 2020/21.
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The fines recently handed came followed reports of fly-tipping of:
- General waste on Belmont Road, Radcliffe
- House clearance waste at Ferngrove, Bury
- Household refuse at the former East Lancs Paper Mill, Radcliffe
- Household items on Fountain Street, Bury
Coun Alan Quinn, Bury Council's cabinet member for the environment, climate change and operations, said: “Fly-tipping is a criminal offence; it’s disgusting and there is no excuse for it.
"It blights neighbourhoods and the countryside, is a threat to local wildlife and livestock, is a source of pollution and a danger to public health. It also attracts other forms of anti-social behaviour.
“On top of that, cleaning it up takes resources away from other council services which local taxpayers want their money spending on - last year we spent approximately £70,000 on clearing away fly-tipping.”
Coun Quinn added that there had been a noticeable increase in advertisements on social media for unlicensed waste removal services.
He said: "Every individual and business has a duty of care to ensure they correctly dispose of their waste and many unsuspecting householders are being caught out by these rogue traders, drawn by their attractive low rates compared to legitimate operators.
“I urge residents to check their credentials before using them.
"Remember – if fly-tipped waste can be traced back to its owner, the owner can be fined even if they had acted in good faith and were not aware the waste was going to be fly-tipped.”
People are urged to ask any waste carrier for their address and telephone number, their waste carrier licence, and ask where their waste will be taken to.
You can carry out a free check of their credentials here.
