FLY-TIPPING has surged by 79 per cent against the Royal Borough’s target, it has been revealed – with tough new plans to fine repeat offenders up to £50,000.

The borough has seen 934 recorded fly tips between April 2019 and April 2020 – which was off the council’s target of 520, councillors at an infrastructure overview scrutiny panel heard.

Nearly 220 fly tips were recorded from January 1 to March 31, 2020.

An officer said fly-tipping – which ranges from waste alongside recycling sites to bulky items disposed on country lanes – has increased over the years and even more so during lockdown both locally and nationally.

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To reduce the fly-tipping levels for next year, it was announced the council has entered into a new contract with District Enforcement for their ground team to issue fixed penalty notices (FPN) to people caught littering or dog fouling – which can be up to £100.

The ground team will have four employees and a supervisor across the borough.

A specialist enforcement group – which has four or five staff members – has also been added and they will look at the ‘more complex’ environmental issues such as fly-tipping or making sure businesses uphold their ‘duty of care’ to dispose of their commercial or industrial waste.

The contract is due to commence in early October and will be ‘cost neutral’ to the council as the company will retain revenue from littering or dog fouling FPNs.

When the contract is active, District Enforcement will utilise the council’s two mobile camera units and, in addition, the council will share information gathered from residents on hot spot areas.

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Councillor Jon Davey (West Windsor Residents Association: Clewer and Dedworth West), said: “There’s a lot of residents concerned about this [fly-tipping] and people do get away with it.

“It’s great to know that we’re going to have somebody taking action.”

Anyone caught littering, dog fouling, or ‘basic’ fly-tipping, such as unlawfully disposing a black bag, will face a FPN of £100.

Repeat offenders of blatant fly-tipping could face prosecution as well as a maximum FPN of £50,000.

The infrastructure overview and scrutiny panel took place Thursday (September 17).