New signs warning potential fly-tippers of Birmingham City Council’s approach to the problem are being rolled out at hotspot sites across the city.
The posters feature glow-in-the-dark reflective eyes and a message laid out in the style of a series of car registration plates, saying IF YOU FLY TIP WE WILL CATCH YOU.
Abandoning rubbish (fly-tipping) is illegal and offenders can face an unlimited fine and up to five years’ in jail if convicted at Crown Court.
In Birmingham in the last financial year (2016/17) there were:
- 652 investigations into suspected commercial waste disposal offences and offences (equivalent to 12 a week)
- 185 fines at £300 were issued to businesses who couldn’t show us within the required time that they had proper trade waste arrangements
- 39 cases concluded at court
- 33 fixed penalty notices at £400 issued to people for fly-tipping
- 10 vehicles seized on suspicion of involvement in fly-tipping
- 1 person sent to prison for fly-tipping
Tony Quigley, Head of Birmingham City Council’s Waste Enforcement Unit, said: “Whether it is one bag of rubbish, a broken sofa or several tonnes of rubbish, fly-tipping is a blight and completely unacceptable.
“Somebody will know who is responsible for this mess. It is not right to throw your unwanted items into the streets, and we need to tackle this together.
“This is anti-social behaviour from a very small minority of people that do not care about their neighbourhood and the impact this has on others. We would ask local residents or anybody with information to come forward and help us to bring to justice those responsible.
“We can and do prosecute when we have credible evidence. We will not hesitate to do this, so the courts can then issue the punishments they see fit. But without the evidence we are unable to do this.”
Anyone who witnesses fly-tipping can report an incident by calling 0121 303 6007 or by visiting www.birmingham.gov.uk/flytipping
