Fly-tipping perpetrator shamed into 'collecting rubbish' after being outed on Northampton Facebook group

'It feels like a revolution', says Northampton councillor whose ward potentially shamed a fly-tipper into collecting their dumped rubbish.

A large fly-tip including bed frames and mattresses was dumped on Queen Eleanor Road in Far Cotton on Wednesday night (January 21).

Councillor Julie Davenport, of the Far Cotton ward, received videos and pictures of the culprit dumping the mess and took to the community's Facebook page to call them out.

"To the person who is dumping rubbish on Queen Eleanor Road: I have four people as witnesses, video footage and photographs of you doing it, either take it back in or be heavily fined when the warden gets there," Councillor Davenport wrote.

The post was met with anger as Far Cotton residents vented their frustrations. One person wrote: "Shame them on social media. We need photos and then embarrass them as fly-tipping tramps."

Councillor Davenport's Facebook post seemed to have possibly worked, as the rubbish was gone the very next day.

"The flytipping was taken back," Councillor Davenport wrote in another Facebook post.

"We have photos/videos so if it turns up elsewhere please let me know. The person responsible is definitely on our radar.

"If anyone witnesses fly-tipping, please message me. We have to stop this happening. A huge thank you to the residents who contacted me with all the information."

Speaking to Chronicle & Echo, Councillor Davenport said she thinks getting residents to stand up and be witnesses in a court room is the way to stop fly-tippers.

She said: "I think the public are getting in such a state about it that they want to name and shame people.

"People are now willing to stand up and say they will be a witness. It feels like a revolution. People are absolutely sick to the back teeth with it all.

"I don't know if the perpetrator saw the post but it was gone the next day.

"I do think we need to start outing people on Facebook. They have got to be made examples of. I would have named and shamed the person but I would need to check the legalities of it.

"99 percent of the community don't want this. What they need [to prosecute] is witnesses.

"In the past what you have found is people don't want to go to court but people are now getting angry, very angry. They're now thinking, 'This can't go on. I don't want this in my street'."