Fewer than one per cent of reported fly-tippers punished by Derbyshire councils

A Freedom of Information request to local authorities across the country has revealed only 1.38 per cent of tip-offs from the public resulted in a fixed penalty notice (FPN) being issued.

The figures, put together by the Online Mortgage Advisor, reveal close to one million reported incidents of fly-tipping nationally in 2019/20 – with many councils facing an increase due to tips being closed amid the pandemic.

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Chesterfield Borough Council says it will not tolerate fly-tipping. Of the 293 fly-tipping incidents reported in Chesterfield, no warning letters have been issued and two FPNs have been handed out, 0.68 per cent of the total.

In Bolsover, out of 1,494 incidents of fly-tipping, 17, or 1.14 per cent, resulted in a warning letter and four, or 0.27 per cent, led to a FPN.

While in North East Derbyshire, 687 incidents were reported, with 10 leading to warning letters, 1.46 per cent of the toal, and five resulting in a FPN being issued, or 0.73 per cent.

Nationally, out of the total 975,631 reported incidents of fly-tipping in England, just 13,416 resulted in a FPN.

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The local authority doing the most to tackle fly-tipping in their area is Islington, London, with 71.88 per cent of incidents resulting in a FPN.

A spokesperson for Chesterfield Borough Council said: “We all have a part to play in helping to keep our area clean and attractive, and here in Chesterfield we don’t tolerate fly-tipping.

"Fly-tipping shows a total lack of regard for our borough and where there is evidence of it taking place, our enforcement officers will investigate.

"Where we identify evidence to allow for a prosecution, we progress and take action against those responsible.”

The spokesperson added: “Fly-tipping in not only illegal, but it creates a serious hazard for both the environment and our safety.

"We therefore ask for the public’s help in reporting incidents or coming forward with any information so that we can investigate further. Incidents can be reported via My Chesterfield at www.chesterfield.gov.uk/mychesterfield.

“We also remind residents that they also have a responsibility for how their household waste is disposed of – people should only use responsible waste disposal providers.”

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