Fly-tipping grot spots cost cash-strapped Dudley Council £10k to clean up

The authority spent £10,631 cleaning up four roads last year and received 809 complaints about fly-tipping for the whole of the borough.

Councillors whose wards had the worst affected areas blasted the fly tippers as 'scumbags'.

Cradley and Wollescote councillor Richard Body said: "If we had evidence such as the registration of the vehicles they were using or footage of them throwing rubbish out of the window, that would be fantastic.

"I would recommend and urge everyone to buy a cheap dashboard camera.

"If more people started using the cameras and more culprits started getting caught - these idiots would think twice about fly tipping. They are scumbags.

"It costs the local authority a lot of money to clear up the fly tipping.

"People can get fined up to £250 for fly-tipping but I would like to see that penalty double."

The worst hit streets were Hall Street in Dudley, Oak Lane in Kingswinford, Mears Coppice in Quarry Bank and Foxcote Lane in Cradley.

Councillor Dave Tyler, for Kingswinford North and Wall Heath, said: "There has been an ongoing problem for a number of years at Oak Lane.

"The council has put a lot of measures in place to stop fly-tipping.

"We have been very successful but the problem is we need to catch people who are dumping the waste.

"We obviously can't put officers down there all the time, although we have used CCTV in the past which has been successful.

"We need public support as well. If anyone sees any fly-tipping taking place, don't challenge them but I would encourage people to get details of the vehicles being used and pass it on to the local authority."

Councillor Mohammed Hanif, for Lye and Stourbridge North, added: "There have been numerous occasions of fly-tipping at Mears Coppice.

"I'm disgusted and disappointed with the amount of fly-tipping taking place.

"It is not good for the environment or residents.

"There have been meetings discussing closing the lane altogether to stop it happening."

There were 820 reports of fly tipping in Dudley during 2014/2015, which was up 12 per cent from 728 three years before.

And it cost the council £45,366 to clear up fly tipping for 2014/2015 - jumping up from £35,339 in 2012/13.

Dudley Council prosecuted five people last year, nine the previous year and 12 in 2012/13.

More than £1.7 million being spent between 2012 and 2015 tackling the problem across the Black Country and Staffordshire.