50,000 fly-tipping cases blight region in just one year

More than 50,000 cases of fly-tipping have blighted the West Midlands in the last year, new figures reveal.

In Staffordshire, Cannock Chase District Council reported 583 incidents, South Staffordshire Council 327, Stafford Borough Council 368 and Lichfield District Council 278.

However, Cannock Chase Council saw the number of incidents drop by 56 on the previous 12 months. Karen Sulway, at the council said: "Cannock Chase Council is committed to protecting and improving the environment and has an environmental enforcement action plan which is reviewed and updated annually.

"This action plan ensures that measures are put in place to reduce the incidence of fly-tipping."

These include the display of signage advising of penalties for flytipping offences, use of CCTV cameras in hotspot areas and the offer of a £100 reward to members of the public for information leading to the successful prosecution of offenders.

In the rest of the West Midlands, Birmingham topped the grot spot list, which had been put together by the GMB union.

The city council reported 15,690 fly tipping between 2010 and 2011. In Wolverhampton there were 3,669 incidents, Sandwell had 2,820, Walsall saw 1,940 reported incidents and Dudley had 817. Walsall Council saw an increase of 373 reported incidents in 2010 and 2011, compared to the previous financial year.

Joe Morgan, GMB regional secretary, said "Not only is fly-tipping illegal but it is damaging to the environment and according to the Environment Agency it costs £100-150m per annum to clean up."