City launches crackdown on fly-tippers

The city council is joining with Humberside Police and Humberside Fire and Rescue Service in taking a tough line on fly-tipping, while urging residents to report incidents.

The initiative follows several recent successful prosecutions of residents and a scrap metal dealer for a range of offences.

These include Karen Boxall, 46, of Flinton Grove, Hull, who was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs after she was caught dumping a mattress in Flinton Grove drain.

Anthony Harris, 37, of Ridsdale, was fined £315 and ordered to pay £250 costs for dumping a caravan in Burleigh Street after he had stripped the metal from it. He got just £20 for the scrap metal.

And scrap metal dealer David Norris, 19, of Woburn Street, was given a 12-month conditional discharge with fines and costs totalling £378 after being unable to prove where he disposed of his business waste. He had denied committing an offence and was convicted after a trial at Hull Magistrates’ Court.

Commenting on the prosecutions, Coun John Hewitt, portfolio holder for neighbourhoods and families, said “I applaud the neighbourhood nuisance team for their work, which is often in difficult circumstances, to bring these criminals to court.

“Their activities blight our neighbourhoods, risk harm to human health and the environment and you as council tax payers have to pay for the costs of cleaning up their mess.

“Householders in Hull don’t have to pay for their waste to be disposed off and there are special arrangements for business waste. We have one of the most accessible waste collection systems in the country so there is no excuse for this criminal activity.”

Figures show the scale of the problem facing enforcement officers.

A total of 519 tonnes of illegal waste was removed from the city over the last financial year, and there were 4,429 incidents of fly-tipping. The cost for the clearance and disposal of the waste was about £145,000.

Residents are being encouraged to record details of fly-tipping incidents and the people responsible, including taking photographs of offenders if it is safe to do so.

Insp Lee Edwards, of Riverside Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Fly tipping can make neighbourhoods look run down and has a detrimental effect on communities. Humberside Police are committed to working with partners to tackle the problem and associated criminality. I hope this campaign raises awareness in the legislation surrounding fly tipping and shows that it will not be tolerated by authorities in Hull.”