Wiltshire Council has been issuing fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to fly-tippers around the county and beyond for dumping waste in Wiltshire.
The crackdown is part of the council's We're Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign and its extra investment into new technology and more officers to catch fly-tippers.
A Bromham resident has been issued and paid a £400 fly-tipping FPN after admitting to illegally depositing household waste in a layby off the A361 between Devizes and Calstone, close to the renowned local beauty spot of Morgan's Hill.
The council's Enforcement Officers spotted the fly-tip in August and found evidence in the waste that related to the resident and their spouse. This led the officers to conduct a formal interview under caution so the resident could explain how this waste was found illegally disposed of.
The individual confessed under caution that they acted alone when depositing the waste in the layby. They stated they had missed their domestic waste collection and failed to get to the household recycling centre in Devizes in time before it closed. They said that the smell of the waste in the car was so unpleasant that they couldn't return home with it and so they fly-tipped it.
The council has also issued a fixed penalty notice to a resident from the Bristol area for failing in their household duty of care when waste associated to them was found fly-tipped at Whitehill Lane, Royal Wootton Bassett in January. The resident confessed during an interview under caution to paying a waste collector to take their waste away without checking that the person was a licenced waste carrier. The information that the individual provided of the alleged person who took the waste away did not lead to any positive identification of the alleged fly-tipper, and so the resident was issued with a FPN as they are responsible for their waste under their duty of care.
A third £400 FPN has been issued to a resident from Durrington for being in control of a vehicle used in a fly-tipping incident on a byway off Milston Road, Durrington, in February.
The fly-tipping incident was witnessed by a member of the public, who observed carpet underlay being thrown from a van on to the grass verge by an unknown person. The quick-thinking witness took photographs of the vehicle and its registration as it drove away, which helped Enforcement Officers to trace the person liable for the offence.
The council has also issued a £400 FPN to a man from the Collingbourne Ducis area after his waste was found on military land off a byway near Everleigh.
Anybody who is issued with a FPN cannot be named as it is not a conviction in an open court.
Cllr Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Highways and Waste, said: These are four great examples that highlight the work we are doing to combat fly-tipping as part of our We're Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign.
These FPNs should be a reminder to Wiltshire residents to be extra vigilant when paying someone to take their waste away. Some people who advertise waste collections on social media are unlicensed to remove waste, and people should always check for a waste carriers licence and take down the vehicle details of anyone who takes away their waste - or they could be fined if the waste is dumped.
One of our Business Plan commitments is to reduce fly-tipping in Wiltshire, and that's why we have invested more money into covert cameras and officers to catch fly-tippers in the act, as part of our zero-tolerance approach.
Anyone can check of their credentials of someone they pay to take away their waste at: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers(opens new window)
To find out how to report fly-tipping in Wiltshire, more about the WTF campaign and how people who report fly-tipping could get a reward, people should go to: www.wiltshire.gov/fly-tipping
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