Image courtesy of South Staffordshire Council

South Staffordshire Council has today (5 September) launched an appeal for witnesses to help find the people responsible for fly-tipping 62 tonnes of rubbish in the area in the past week.

The majority of the waste (32 tonnes) was dumped near sewage works in Wombourne, where the pile was ‘almost’ as tall as the lorry used to clear it. The remainder was found at Himley Sewage Works.

Overall, the amount of rubbish fly-tipped was ‘enough to fill 15 lorry loads’.

According to the council, it could take until the end of the week to clear the amount of waste that has been left. It suspects that the source could be a scrap or breaker’s yard, or industrial estate, due to the car parts, earth, wood and oil present in the rubbish.

The council also estimates that the clear up will cost ‘in the region of £6000’.

A few people ‘continually flout the law’

According to the UK Government, fly-tipping is the ‘illegal deposit of waste on land not permitted to receive it’, and differs from littering in that it ‘invariably involves the removal of waste from premises where it was produced with the deliberate aim of disposing it unlawfully’. The main motive for fly-tipping is the avoidance of waste disposal costs.

The maximum penalties for fly-tipping on conviction are a £50,000 fine and/or 12 months imprisonment.

According to the ‘Fly-tipping statistics for England, 2011 to 2012’ report, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), reported incidents of fly-tipping have been decreasing in the last five years. The report partly attributes this decline to the increased effort of local authorities to enforce and raise awareness of fly-tipping issues.

Cabinet Member for Environment Health Protection, Councillor Roger Lees, explains: “Fly-tipping is a blight on the community – it can cause an obstruction and in extreme cases can have serious environmental implications. Although the council is responding to these incidents quickly and effectively, we need members of the public who have seen anything suspicious to come forward so we can help catch those responsible.

“This case is certainly unusual, given the sheer amount of rubbish that has been dumped. We have been working closely with businesses and local people to help reduce fly-tipping, and this has resulted in a huge reduction over the past seven years. However, we also know there are a few unscrupulous people who continually flout the law and we will not be afraid to prosecute anyone who does not dispose of their rubbish appropriately."

Anyone who may have seen anything suspicious near Wombourne or Himley Sewage Works is asked to call the South Staffordshire Council environmental crime team on 01902 696200.