Walsall Council plans to install street skips to tackle fly-tipping

Fly-tipping cost Walsall Council £426,000 to clear up last year

Skips could be placed on streets in a bid to tackle repeated fly-tipping, a council has announced.

Last year, there were more than 4,000 reports of illegally discarded waste across Walsall, with 2,000 tonnes of rubbish removed from the borough.

The local authority has now proposed putting a skip in each of its 20 wards every Saturday.

Clearing up fly-tipping cost the council more than £400,000 last year, bosses said.

Residents told the BBC they were in favour of the move after branding the blight of fly-tipping "disgusting" and an "absolute disgrace".

The council has also proposed increasing a cash reward for people whose information leads to successful fly-tipping prosecutions from £100 to £500.

Other trials mooted include extending opening hours at council tips and introducing a free collection service for bulky household items.

The council said dumped fridges and freezers were a 'real problem'

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Councillor Louise Harrison said: "We're planning to trial a number of initiatives to make it easier for our residents to legally dispose of their waste.

"But if they don't, our stance is one of zero tolerance."

She added: "Having given residents the opportunity to do the right thing, we hope to see a reduction both in the number of fly-tipping incidents and also in the costs of collecting and disposing of the waste."

The council has faced a spate of dumping incidents in recent years, including when rubbish was filmed falling from a fly-tipper's van.

The plans will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 5 September.