Worcestershire city council has warned residents about the consequences of fly-tipping with this Friday (January 5) expected to be the worst day of the year for illegal dumping of unwanted goods and rubbish.
Waste clearance service Junk Hunters Ltd has warned that the first Friday of the New Year, known in the industry as Fly Tipping Friday, could see huge amounts of the illegal activity. With households looking to discard Christmas waste and packaging, as well as the added confusion due to irregular bin collections – the temptation to fly-tip can be even greater.
But Worcester City Council (WCC) has taken the opportunity to warn residents that they will be prosecuted if caught in the act. A city council spokesperson said: “Fly-tipping is a criminal act; people caught illegally dumping waste can be fined up to £50,000 or face five years in prison. “We will investigate all incidents of fly-tipping and prosecute offenders, where sufficient evidence is available.” According to the latest government figures, from 2016-17 there were over a million fly-tipping incidents throughout England.
This led to a total clearance cost of over £57.5 million but offenders were also fined a total of nearly £723,000. If members of the public spot someone fly-tipping, WCC has urged them to take down as many relevant details as possible, including vehicle registrations, but has advised against approaching a suspected fly-tipper. You can report incidents of fly-tipping at worcester.gov.uk/report-it or by calling 01905 722233.
Harsha Rathnayake, CEO of Junk Hunters, said: “Councils have a responsibility to provide adequate waste removal services, but households can prepare themselve“It’s worth looking into whether your local council is offering any additional collection services around the holiday season, as many of them do.”
If you need to get rid of any junk, rubbish or waste, just call Bewdley & Kiddminster Skip Hire for help. www.bewdleyandkidderminsterskiphire.co.uk