Fly-tipping is the unauthorised depositing of waste on any land that does not have a licence or permit from the Environment Agency.
You can report incidents of fly-tipping using our online form.
To complete this form, you will need to tell us:
- your name, address and contact details
- where the fly-tipping is
- the date and time that you saw the fly-tipping
Response times
Once we receive your report, we will generally remove fly-tipped waste within 1 working day.
If there is and an excessive amount or the location is difficult to access, we will remove it within 5 working days.
This may take longer if we need specialist equipment or contractors to remove a fly-tip (hazardous waste and so on).
Committing fly-tipping
Under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, it is a criminal offence to deposit, cause, or knowingly permit the deposit of controlled waste without the appropriate environmental permit. If you commit a fly-tipping offence, you may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of £1,000. This amount is reduced to £850 if paid within 10 days.
If the Fixed Penalty Notice is not paid, the Council may commence legal proceedings. If convicted by the Court, the offence carries a penalty of an unlimited fine, up to five years' imprisonment, and a criminal record.
Household Waste Duty of Care
As a householder, you have a legal duty to ensure that anyone removing waste from your property is authorised to do so and will dispose of it lawfully. If you give your waste to another person and it is subsequently fly-tipped, you may have committed an offence under Section 34(2A) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
In such circumstances, you may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £600, which is reduced to £450 if paid within 10 days.
If the Fixed Penalty Notice is not paid, the Council may commence legal proceedings. If convicted by the Court, you may receive an unlimited fine and a criminal record.
Remember: Always ask to see a registered waste carrier's licence and retain a receipt or transfer note showing who took your waste and where it was taken. This may help demonstrate that you took reasonable steps to comply with your duty of care.
Waste carriers licence
If you are using a waste removal company, you can search the public register on the Gov.uk website to see if they hold a waste carriers licence.
How we tackle fly-tipping
We tackle fly-tipping by:
- investigating all reported incidents of fly-tipped waste on public highways and land
- prosecuting offenders wherever possible
- publicising successful prosecutions to act as a deterrent to others
- encouraging members of the public to report any offences they witness
- monitoring fly-tipping hot spots on a regular basis and remove waste deposits
- install covert CCTV in areas that are subject to regular fly-tipping.
- advising private landowners where their land is subject to regular fly-tipping
What we will not do
