Lorryloads of rubbish dumped in Dudley as council racks up £150,000 clean-up bill in five years

Dudley Council says it has seen three incidents of lorryloads of waste being ditched in the borough in the past five months and 11 since 2019.

The local authority has spent an average of more than £16,000 each time to properly dispose of the rubbish and remove the vehicles.

In the latest incident, two lorryloads of building materials and household waste were dumped in Attwood Street and Stourvale Road in Lye.

The vehicles have since been taken away and reported to the Environment Agency and the police who are reportedly investigating the issue.

The council has urged the public to report incidents to the police as it attempts to clampdown on the issue which it describes as a "nationwide organised crime racket".

Nicholas McGurk, director of environment at the local authority, said: "We have had a number of trailers dumped in the borough now which costs money to remove and clean up, so it is residents of the borough who foot the bill.

"This latest incident in Lye is expected to cost a minimum of £25,000 to deal with, but we are still examining the contents. If there are asbestos or other hazardous materials present it could be significantly more.

"We are working with the police and the Environment Agency to try and catch the people who do this, but it is a real challenge.

"I would urge people if they see anything suspicious to report it to the police so we can try and stop this sort of thing happening in the first place."

The trailers are loaded with waste as a cheaper alternative to disposing of the rubbish properly and have previously been found to contain tyres and building rubble which has included asbestos.

In 2019, a trailer of building debris was dumped in Shaw Road, Dudley, costing the council £60,00 to dispose of due to its hazardous contents.

Anyone who wishes to report fly-tipping issues in the borough can do so by visiting my.dudley.gov.uk/en