Bassetlaw: Fly-tipping on the rise, costing taxpayers more than £200,000

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that incidents of illegally dumping waste have increased for the last three years across the district, with the total cost to Bassetlaw District Council more than £200,000.

Between 2012-2015 there have been 3,331 incidents reported - with only three prosecutions.

Coun Julie Leigh, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “It is extremely disheartening to see that the number of fly-tipping incidents across our district is on the rise.

“The council takes illegal fly-tipping extremely seriously and has put in place measures to deal with fly-tippers. However, these measures do not simply begin and end with the number of prosecutions that are taken through the courts.”

The FOI by the Press Association was sent to more than 200 local authorities across the country, which provided information from the past three financial years.

The figures show that there were 897 incidents of fly-tipping in 2012/2013 in Bassetlaw, at a cost of £59,788, with three prosecutions.

In 2013/2014, there were 1.082 incidents, costing £67,503, with zero prosecutions.

And in 2014/2015, there were 1.352 incidents, to the cost of £77,452, with zero prosecutions.

The total cost over the last three years is £204,743.

Coun Leigh added: “In order to secure a criminal prosecution we rely on evidence being submitted by residents or on evidence captured by covert surveillance equipment such as mobile CCTV.

“Should the necessary evidence be gathered we will pursue a prosecution and/or recover the cost of clearing up the dumped waste. Since April this year we have pursued more than 10 individuals in cases such as these.”

Bassetlaw MP John Mann said: “The more people who are prosecuted the better. Fly-tipping is a real blight on our community. Where there are prosecutions I strongly encourage the naming and shaming of those involved.”