'We take fly-tipping very seriously,' says WNC...but new data reveals just 12 fines and TWO prosecutions issued despite more than 19,000 fly-tipping reports in West Northamptonshire
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by this newspaper has revealed that West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) issued just 12 fines for fly-tipping in the first nine months of 2025 and had two successful prosecutions, despite receiving more than 19,000 reports.
Figures released under the FOI show that between January 1 and September 30, 2025, WNC recorded 19,094 fly-tipping reports. Of these, only 12 resulted in fines. The council also sent 414 Community Protection Warning letters and secured just two prosecutions for fly-tipping, despite 2,813 official enforcement notices being issued.
The numbers raise questions about how the council tackles fly-tipping and whether its three-year contract with controversial private enforcement firm Kingdom Local Authority Support is delivering results.
According to WNC’s own website, the Kingdom contract was introduced to strengthen enforcement against littering and other environmental crime.
The three-year agreement covers the entire West Northamptonshire area, expanding a previous contract that applied only to Northampton.
WNC says ‘the aim is to ensure consistent action, increase visibility, and reassure residents that offenders are being targeted’.
Following the FOI release, WNC was asked why enforcement numbers were so low compared with reports, and what role Kingdom plays in tackling fly-tipping.
In response, the council said: “We take fly-tipping very seriously and are committed to tackling this issue.
“We’ve recently changed the way we deal with fly-tips in Northampton, which is helping us improve collection timescales. The majority of fly-tips on council-managed land are now cleared within two to three days. It’s important to note that fly-tips on private land remain the responsibility of the landowner.
“Many of the incidents we record involve domestic waste being left out too early or too late for collection. We are carrying out additional communications in the worst-affected areas to remind residents of their collection arrangements and encourage responsible disposal. Businesses have responsibility for disposing of their own waste through separate arrangements.
“DEFRA’s national statistics show that West Northamptonshire reports a high number of ‘single incident’ fly-tips, which may indicate that other councils do not include these in their figures. These same statistics also confirm that West Northants has good enforcement rates compared with other areas.
“We investigate fly-tips wherever possible to identify those responsible, and we encourage residents to provide witness evidence. While CCTV can help, it does not always provide sufficient evidence for enforcement unless we can clearly identify individuals, vehicle registration numbers, or addresses.”
Reform councillor Nigel Stansfield, cabinet member for environment, recycling and waste, said: “WNC is not unique in the fly-tipping challenges it has, it’s an issue councils across the UK struggle with. As a result of regular reporting, surely nobody is under the impression that this is a reasonable thing to do. Yet our teams do all they can to educate people in the worst hit areas, and enforce where they can gather sufficient evidence.
"Everyone needs to play their part by taking their rubbish to waste and recycling centres, arranging lawful disposal of bulky items, and making sure waste is put out at the correct time - not far too early or too late.
“We can’t be everywhere, so we need people to be our eyes and ears. By working together, we can reduce fly-tipping and keep our communities clean.”
Details can be found on the Council’s website of how to report fly-tipping, either on the site or via an app on Apple or Android devices. Kingdom deals with low level environmental crime as part of its contract. Any evidence relating to fly tipping is passed to the enforcement team for action.