I want to grab fly-tippers by throat - council boss

Walsall Council leader Mike Bird has threatened to punish people who dump waste in his town

Fly-tippers should be "grabbed by the throat or elsewhere in their anatomy" to stop them re-offending, a council boss says.

Mike Bird, leader of Walsall Council, has issued the renewed threat to those responsible for illegally dumping waste.

Along with that cabinet members have backed a financial package worth £4.7m to ramp up enforcement efforts.

"It's a criminal offence and criminals, unfortunately, have to be grabbed by the throat or elsewhere in their anatomy to make sure they won't do it again," Bird said.

Bird admitted the new measures were "harsh", but warned householders could even be fined for fly-tipped rubbish they were not responsible for dumping but was traced back to them.

He also promised the authority wouldn't hesitate to "crush" vehicles used for illicit dumping.

"The more we crush, the happier I'll be," he said.

"Residents of [Walsall] must understand they have a duty of care to know where their waste is going to be disposed of."

A huge trailer of rubbish was dumped on Skip Lane in Walsall in November 2023

The meeting heard the new money would fund a fly-tipping crackdown, the dishing out of fixed penalty fines, more bulky waste enforcement, greater CCTV and the creation of a "unified enforcement board".

The authority has long sought to tackle fly-tipping, and previously said cleaning up and legally disposing of the waste in the borough costs up to £500k per year.

And it's not the only West Midlands location that has seen issues.

In a high profile case that is still ongoing, a businessman has denied dumping 27 tonnes of waste that blocked a road in neighbouring Lichfield.

Fly-tipping can result in a fine of up to £20,000, which can be unlimited if the case is sent to the crown court, with offenders facing jail time.