Warning over fly-tipping 'epidemic' as 111 cases a week reported in Sandwell

Sandwell Council is having to deal with up to 111 incidents every week with 4,834 since January alone.

And while rubbish includes everything from tyres, rubble, furniture and more the authority says there is particular problem with hundreds of old mattresses being dumped.

The Green Party has now called on Sandwell Council to make more recycling services available to residents.

However council bosses say the rise is the same across the country and residents’ increasing confidence in reporting fly-tipping due to the council taking tougher action.

WATCH: Man fined for fly-tipping mattress

Kathryn Downs, the Green Party’s parliamentary candidate for Warley, said: “Sandwell has a big problem with fly tipping – these figures show it’s almost an epidemic.”

Ms Downs, who is also a candidate for West Midlands Mayor, added: “The current strategy is clearly not working – it’s time to try new ideas.

“More comprehensive recycling services are certainly needed, but with fly-tipping on this scale the council needs to robustly prosecute offenders and send a clear signal that it’s unacceptable.”

Neil Cox, director of prevention and protection at Sandwell Council, said: “Fly-tipping is on the rise nationally – our residents don’t accept this kind of behaviour and neither do we.

"We react more quickly and effectively now and residents have increasing confidence that we are taking this problem seriously and that we will take action. We believe that’s a key reason for the number of reports we’re receiving.

“In the past two years we have issued 152 £400 fines to people who we have been able to prove are responsible for fly-tipping rubbish in Sandwell.

"We’ve achieved this by using the valuable information we receive from residents and targeting key frontline services on providing an efficient response.

"We have also placed CCTV cameras in hotspots and residents have also provided CCTV footage to us to help us take action. Mattresses are one of the main items we see fly-tipped.”

A breakdown of the figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, showed 6,178 fly-tipping incidents were reported last year – higher than this year’s amount so far.

The figures show that 563 mattresses were dumped last year and 444 have been dumped so far this year.

Concerns have also been raised about how fly-tipping can impact on wildlife, with discarded rubbish putting habitats under threat.

Sammy Pritchard, senior bio-diversity and planning officer, said: “Not only does fly-tipping have the potential to contaminate water, poisoning the wild birds and fish. On land chemical spills can kill flowers and invertebrates that birds and mammals rely on for food.”

Last year, Sandwell Council responded to fly-tipping by installing CCTV in blackspots to catch perpetrators, while the council has the power to fine people £400 if they are caught.

A Sandwell Council spokesman said: “Sandwell provides weekly domestic waste and recycling collections, plus free garden and food waste collections. Very few councils still provide this level of service.”

For information on Sandwell's recycling services, visit www.sandwell.gov.uk/bulkywaste