Northampton in top 10 areas in England for fly-tipping rates, government figures reveal

Previous fly-tipping incidents around Northampton

The borough recorded 68 incidents per 1,000 residents, putting it seventh in the top 10 areas for fly-tipping rates in the country, according to Defra statistics released on Thursday (November 7).

Overall there were 15,246 incidents of illegal dumping of waste reported in the timeframe, but only 1,818 actions were taken as a result.

The most common places for fly-tipping were pavements and council land, while black bags and 'other household waste' were the most frequent items found.

A Northampton Borough Council spokesman said: “Fly tipping has been a major concern in Northampton for the past few years.

"To continue to tackle this we will persist with our community education and enforcement activity as we do with other anti-social behaviour as well as investigate new ways of creating a positive change in this area.”.

Nationally local authorities in England dealt with more than one million fly-tipping incidents, an increase of eight per cent from 2017/18.

Cllr David Renard, environment spokesman for the Local Government Association, said fly-tipping and costs English taxpayers more than £57m a year to clear up.

“Councils are determined to crack down on the problem, including installing CCTV at fly-tipping hotspots which has led to successful prosecutions," he said.

“However, prosecuting fly-tippers often requires time-consuming and laborious investigations, with a high threshold of proof.

“The next government needs to ensure councils have the funding needed to investigate incidents and should review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, so that fly-tippers are given bigger fines for more serious offences to help deter incidents."

A fly-tipping offence is committed when a person illegally dumps household, industrial, commercial or other waste without a licence.

Fly-tipping is punishable by a fine of up to £50,000 or 12 months imprisonment if an offender is convicted in a magistrates' court, but sentences can be more severe if dealt with by a crown court.