A council's fight against fly-tipping has seen more than £3,000 in fixed penalty notices handed out in the last few months.

Rossendale Council’s fly-tipping campaign, Operation Trident, has successfully held to account those responsible, resulting in penalties and the removal of waste.

The most recent offences include:

  • The dumping of a large fridge freezer by a man from Haslingden who received a £400 fixed penalty notice
  • A building contractor from outside the area was issued with two £400 fixed penalty notices for dumping large amounts of building rubble in Haslingden
  • A a resident in Beaconsfield Street, Haslingden, was issued a £400 fixed penalty notice for fly tipping after a number of complaints were received about the activity at bin collection points in June
  • Three residents from Rochdale were each issued with a £400 fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping following a report on Gincroft Lane, Edenfield in July
  • The owner of a Ford tipper wagon from Accrington was issued with a £300 fixed penalty notice for failing to produce a waste carriers’ licence after a large quantity of household waste was transferred from properties in Darwen to the garden of a house in Haslingden in May

Councillor Steve Hughes, cabinet member for communities on Rossendale Borough Council, said: “These are just a few examples of the types of incidents that we have to deal with on a regular basis, and it’s incredibly frustrating.”

As part of Rossendale Council’s strategy of delivering a cleaner and greener borough, the council have stepped up their enforcement, vowing to be tough with those who blight the area with fly-tipping, abandoned vehicles, litter and dog fouling.

Fly tipping is a criminal offence and a conviction carries an unlimited fine and/or 12 months’ imprisonment or five years’ imprisonment if convicted at crown court.

Councillor Hughes continued: “Operation Trident has allowed us to step up enforcement to tackle incidents such as these quickly and effectively and the help provided by the general public in reporting these incidents is also crucial.

“We won’t hesitate to issue fixed penalties where we find evidence of illegal dumping and urge people to ensure that they are correctly and legally disposing of their rubbish.

"We want to deter people from dumping their rubbish illegally and hope that this evidence of the swift action we have taken will make them think twice.

“Rossendale Council takes issues like this very seriously and we’re committed to delivering a cleaner and greener borough.”

Rossendale receives more than 900 reports a year of fly tipping across the borough, which costs the council around £40,000 annually.