Fly-tippers dump rubbish on rural lane near Oswestry
Picture frames, cupboards and a table were among the items in a mound of material fly-tipped on a rural lane.
Oswestry Safer Neighbourhood Team discovered the pile of wood and rubbish on Monday evening in a lane near Hengoed.
The incident has been reported to the council and the team is appealing for information regarding the incident.
A spokesperson for the team said: “We came across it last night and there was no evidence to link it to the offender.
“The council has been informed for removal and an appeal has been sent out on Twitter for any information.”
Earlier this month figures showed that Shropshire Council had recorded a zero figure for collection penalties issued for fly tipping.
Across England the number of fly-tipping incidents has risen for three years in a row, government figures show, with councils reporting 936,090 cases in 2015/2016 – up four per cent on the previous year.
Local authorities across England handed out more than 4,600 fixed penalty notices and collected at least £773,000 for the offence in the year after the Government gave them new powers to issue “on the spot” fines in May 2016.
But many have not used the powers, which allow councils to issue penalties of between £150 to £400 to those caught in the act of fly-tipping instead of having to take them to court, a Freedom of Information request by the Press Association found.
Of 297 English councils who responded with figures, more than two fifths (43 per cent) said they had not issued any fly-tipping notices between May 9, 2016 when the powers were first launched, and May 8 2017. Despite this, Shropshire Council insisted that it was taking action against people for environmental crimes.
Robert Macey, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for regulatory services, said: “Many individuals have received written warnings for various environmental crimes – mainly littering – when witnessed by Shropshire Council officers.
“This is the level of enforcement used before the possibility of a fixed penalty notice being issued.”
“This approach is consistent with the council’s enforcement policy and is, in the main, an appropriate and proportionate response to such matters.
“Such a written warning will often change an individual’s behaviour and reduce the likelihood of them re-offending in the future, which is the main intention behind any enforcement action taken by the council.”
