IN PICTURES: Fly-tippers dump fridge, settee and bags of rubbish in country lane
Fly tippers who have left a settee, fridge and bags of rubbish at the side of a road in Great Wyrley have been blasted.
The rubbish has been left at the side of Gains Lane by careless vandals in what is the latest episode in an ongoing battle with fly-tipping in the Cannock Chase and South Staffordshire border area.
Councillor Janet Johnson, of South Staffordshire Council, has said the problem is 'constant'.
She said: "Fly-tipping in South Staffordshire is an constant problem, it is happening all over the place and I think it is an absolute disgrace.
"If people can't be bothered to take their rubbish down to the tip then that is just terrible.
"There is no need for people to be putting rubbish on the streets and it is a huge issue in the area.
"We are always going around picking rubbish up, which takes up a lot of time.
"It also costs a lot of money to keep cleaning this stuff up and I don't think that those who are doing it even care about the knock on effects."
Councillor George Adamson, leader of Cannock Chase District Council, said that the authority always seeks to prosecute fly-tippers.
Reports of fly-tipping in Cannock Chase rose in 416 2014/15 – up from 318 three years before, while the cleaning up cost rose from £18,091 in 2012/13 to £23,846 in 2014/15.
He said: "If we can find the offenders in cases of fly-tipping we will always prosecute them.
"It is never easy to catch these people, such is the nature of the crime, but we are determined to take action wherever we can.
"Fly-tipping in Cannock Chase is a problem that seems to come and go but our response is the same, we always look to punish these people."
In June last year farmer Chris Inett, whose family farm in Trescott had become a fly-tipping hotspot, was ordered to pay almost £3,000 after being taken to court.
At the end of his tether, he removed 150 tyres that had been dumped on his land and left them by the side of the road, which led to his punishment.
Councils across the West Midlands have been taking action to reduce fly-tipping over recent years, including installing more CCTV cameras and encouraging members of the public to use new mobile phone apps to report a case where they have seen someone fly-tipping.
