Council in crackdown on 'disgusting' fly-tipping

Croydon Council spent about £1m last year clearing fly-tipped waste

A south London council has announced a crackdown on fly-tipping by hiring new enforcement officers to trace those who are dumping rubbish on the streets.

Croydon Council, which spent about £1m last year clearing fly-tipped waste, said its enforcement team has the ability to hand out on-the-spot fines for suspected crimes.

Thornton Heath resident Animot Otunuga said the fly-tipped rubbish on her street was "disgusting"

Jason Perry, Croydon's mayor, said: "We are clearing rubbish, but that's not the point. We need to get to who is actually doing this, and stop them."

Thornton Heath resident Animot Otunuga said fly-tipping in the area was getting worse

Across the street from Ms Otunuga's home is a pile of rubbish, including a mattress, a chair and food waste.

"The stench is too much," she said.

"I wake up in the morning open my blinds and the first thing I see is all this rubbish, it's very disgusting."

Ms Otunuga, who has lived in Thornton Heath for more than 20 years, added: "It's getting worse. There's a mattress there, you've got all sorts of things that are meant to be in the bins.

"It's not a good sight at all."

Ms Otunuga said she had never seen anyone dumping the rubbish, but added: "One of the reasons why people dump things is because the council is not picking up the bins regularly."

Croydon's mayor attributed the issue of fly-tipping to a "lack of social responsibility"

As well as the mess, clearing fly-tipped waste is a drain on Croydon Council's resources and Mr Perry said the authority would be taking a "zero tolerance approach" to the issue.

"We've put new officers on the street - eyes and ears on the street - who are going through the rubbish, looking for those addresses, so we that can go back to people find them and prosecute them," he said.

He attributed the issue of fly-tipping to a "lack of social responsibility".

"What we are finding increasingly is that people literally are dumping on their own doorsteps," he said.

"It's not a minor problem. It's a really nasty experience for local residents."

Jason Perry said fly-tipping was a "nasty experience" for Croydon residents

One of the council's enforcement officers, Ken Thompson, said the things he had seen in fly-tipping incidents could be shocking.

"Raw meat is the worst one," he said. "It is more serious as that will come from a commercial premises."

Bedbugs and human waste were also commonly found in fly-tipped rubbish, he explained.

"It's a health hazard," Mr Thompson said.

Ken Thompson said he had seen raw meat and human waste being dumped in the borough

He added that dumped waste left people with a negative view of their local area.

"You should be proud of where you live, no matter where it is," he said.

On-the-spot fines for fly-tipping have risen from £400 to £1,000, but the council also wants the public's help.

Mr Perry said: "We do want CCTV images. What we're now looking at is doing naming and shaming.

"We're actually going to put this stuff online... so we can follow these things through."