Fines warning as council faces £240k fly-tip bill

RESIDENTS, community groups and businesses are being urged to take action to avoid adding to the growing fly-tipping menace.

- Sentinel Reporter

They are being encouraged to play their part in upholding high standards of civic pride in Newcastle.

And as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the environmental crime, the borough council is advising people how to report fly-tipping - and warning householders they have a legal duty of care when disposing of rubbish.

It comes as it emerged the council deals with about 800 reports of fly-tipping on public land and highways each year, which costs about £240,000 to remove and dispose of.

Just under half of these incidents involve people who have unwittingly paid, or allowed, a rogue operator to dispose of their unwanted possessions on their behalf.

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste - ranging from a single bin bag and items such as old furniture and white goods appliances to large quantities of commercial and construction waste - on land that's not licensed to accept it.