Fly-tipping team catch resident out after letters found in dumped rubbish in Aylesbury

Buckinghamshire Council has joined forces with a local housing association to combat fly-tipping and encourage residents to dispose of their waste responsibly.

For the past seven months, the council has been working with the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust to deal with small-scale fly-tipping incidents in the local area.

When rubbish piled behind bins in Hampden Gardens, Aylesbury, was examined by the council’s fly-tipping team, letters and other documents within the rubbish led them back to a local resident, who was then issued with a fixed penalty notice.

The second incident took place in Jenner Road, Aylesbury, when a resident left an old bed by a garage block.

They said they were told it would be taken away by a friend but it never was.

The owner of the bed was also issued with a fixed penalty notice and given advice on how to safely dispose of similar items in the future.

In the final case, a teenager was caught dumping a cabinet by some bins.

When questioned, he said his parents had asked him to put it there.

The couple were sent a warning letter and also given information about the correct way to get rid of unwanted furniture.

Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for climate change and environment, Peter Strachan, said: “This joint work is not about trying to catch people out for innocently throwing things away, but it is important that people know the correct way of doing it.

“Dumping excess waste or large items by a bin may seem logical to some but the reality is, it's unsightly and unsafe, not to mention illegal.

"There are correct ways to get rid of different types of waste and we want to work with our colleagues at the trust to educate and inform residents on the right way to do it.”

Helled Williams, assistant director of housing at Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust, said: "Fly-tipping is an anti-social and selfish act that makes our communities look unsightly and pollutes our environment.

"We are committed to dealing with fly-tipping and working in partnership with Buckinghamshire Council to tackle this issue and to support and protect our communities as much as possible.

"Last year, our caretakers dealt with 351 instances of fly-tipping between April 1 and December 31, and we want to reduce the amount of investment that has to go into disposing of tipped waste so we can use this to improve our communal spaces for everyone."

Bucks Council will continue to work with the housing trust to ensure that the 'SCRAP Fly-Tipping' message reaches more tenants and people in the local area.

This will include installing new signage and providing information on council waste disposal services and how to report fly-tipping incidents.

More information can be found here.