Ashfield District Council clamp down on fly tippers

Over the past couple of weeks, the Council’s Community Safety Team attended three separate fly tips, resulting in two people receiving £400 fines.

Two weeks ago, the Council’s Community Protection Officers (CPO) investigated a gigantic fly tip at an industrial unit in Kirkby. The fly tip consisted of hundreds of tyres, fridges, a sofa, several builder’s bags filled with bricks, insulation panels, wood, various car parts including car seats, and over 15 oil drums. The CPO’s worked with the landowner to arrange contractors to remove all the waste.

Last week, Officers also attended local beauty spot, Skegby Bottoms, after receiving multiple reports of fly tipping. Officers found bags of household waste dumped, and subsequently tracked down the responsible individual. The Sutton resident was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) and a £400 fine.

During the same week, the Council’s Community Safety Team were called to a report of a fly tipped caravan in Thieves Wood. CPOs managed to trace the owner of the caravan who lived in Mansfield. The owner was formally interviewed and admitted that they were responsible for the fly tip. The Mansfield resident was issued with an FPN, a £400 fine and required to safely dispose of the caravan.

Cllr Helen-Ann Smith, Lead Executive Member for Community Safety and Crime Reduction said:

“This is an absolutely fantastic result for our Community Safety Team. All three fly tips were appalling, however the scene at industrial units was on another level. It is testament to the incredible job the team do, that two fly tippers were caught and fined.

“Fly tipping has reduced by 20% since last year, but there is still work to do. Fly tipping is a blight on our communities and we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers to fine and prosecute fly tippers.”  

In the last 12 months the Council’s Community Safety Team have issued 68 Prevention of Damage by Pests Act Notices, 179 Community Protection Warnings and 22 Community Protection Notices Served to residents who have failed to clear their waste, and 91 fines issued for fly tipping offences.