Wiltshire Council has launched a new campaign against the scourge of flytipping, using state-of-the-art camera equipment and more officers.

The council aims to combat environmental criminals who are desecrating the county and costing thousands of pounds of public money in clean up bills.

So far this year, the authority has prosecuted 11 flytippers in the courts. Fines, costs and victim surcharge totals for these prosecutions totalled £24,500.

 The We’re Targeting Fly-tippers campaign focuses on three key areas:

  • warning people of the penalties of fly-tipping
  • encouraging residents to report it
  • educating and informing people about how they can safely and legally dispose of their waste, particularly highlighting the dangers of using 'tip run' style social media advertisements.

The campaign is part of the council's extra investment of £150,000 each year for the next three years into tackling environmental crime.

The bulk of this funding is being spent on more officers and equipment, such as state-of-the-art cameras to catch the criminals in the act.

Cabinet member for transport and waste Dr Mark McClelland said: “We're serious about tackling fly-tipping here in Wiltshire, and that's why we've launched our new We're Targeting Fly-tippers campaign, which builds on the success of this eye-catching brand.

“We have made a significant investment into tackling fly-tipping over the next three years, with most of this funding being used for more officers and equipment to catch offenders in the act.

“Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated enforcement team, we have had some excellent results in catching fly-tippers in Wiltshire during the past year.

“This investment will help us to build on that, to prosecute more offenders, to educate people about how to safely and legally dispose of their rubbish, and to ultimately see the blight of fly-tipping decrease in Wiltshire.

“As set out in our business plan, we're committed to tackling fly-tipping and environmental crime in our beautiful county.”

Wiltshire Council operates a resource-based contract with its clearance contractor. Fly-tips are cleared along with other services such as grounds maintenance and street cleaning.

Fly-tipping is an arrestable criminal offence, punishable by an unlimited fine and/or 12 months’ imprisonment if convicted in a magistrates' court.

The offence can also attract an unlimited fine and up to five years’ imprisonment if convicted in the Crown Court.