Scourge of fly-tipping in Burnley falling but still seven incidents a day

Data released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has revealed that there were 2,660 fly-tipping incidents in Burnley in the 12 months to March.

Tipping incidents in Burnley most commonly involved volumes of waste that were the equivalent of a small van load.

However, the borough is bucking the national trend in that incidents have reduced by 32%.

The majority of fly-tipping sites in Burnley - 58% of them - were on back alleyways.

Burnley Council has vowed to continue the fight against the ‘epidemic’ of fly-tipping

A Burnley Council spokesman said: “It’s good to see that Burnley is bucking the national trend and has seen the number of fly-tipping incidents drop by a third in the past five years.

“However, there are still far too many incidents and the blame is firmly on the shoulders of those responsible for dumping rubbish without a care for the impact it has on the environment and our communities.

“We will prosecute fly-tippers where we can gather sufficient evidence against them.

“Recently a Padiham man was ordered to pay £600 for dumping rubbish after he was caught on camera set up by our officers to monitor a known blackspot area.

“We want to continue to see fly-tipping reduced and members of the public can help by reporting incidents and, where possible, provide firm evidence about who’s responsible so that we can pursue and prosecute them.”