700 skips filled with rubbish fly tipped across Stoke-on-Trent

A crackdown on illegal dumping has seen 689 skips filled with rubbish that was left in back alleys, street fronts and community spaces across Stoke-on-Trent.

In the last 50 days more than 1,000 incidents of illegal dumping were reported and cleared up by the council.

The authority is now encouraging more people to report those who are fly tipping, so they can remove the waste.

It's been a huge effort involving new CCTV cameras, additional clean-up crews, new enforcement officers, and two new 3.5 tonne clean-up tipper vans.

Terraced streets were a particular problem and cleaning crews found that a lot of the waste was bagged up and left in alleyways for days on end, rather than just on bin collection days, meaning it was festering for long periods of time.

The crews have also come across builders’ rubble, dumped sofas and mattresses that could either be recycled and used by charities across the city, or could have been taken by bulky waste collection teams for a £40 charge.

A campaign is launching today to educate residents on what waste goes in what bin, how to book waste collections and how to access the two household recycling centres in the city.

Council leader Jane Ashworth said: “After taking office in May, we vowed to quickly review council services, and the backlog of illegal dumping cases that our hard-working environment teams were facing immediately became glaringly obvious.

"That went alongside reports from fed-up residents who have to face the misery of rubbish dumped in their alleys and community spaces, often by their lazy and irresponsible neighbours who should know better.

“In May, we were faced with the reality of a backlog of 560 reported incidents, added with a further estimated 500 unreported incidents with a turnaround time of 30 days from reporting to clearing. We put in place swift action to tackle that.

“The teams have delivered and since 20 June, 1,123 incidents have been cleared. This campaign is delivering, and in less than half the time we pledged.

“But keeping our streets clear isn’t a matter for the council alone. We will never be able to keep every street clear all of the time. We know residents are fiercely proud of our city and just as we all wouldn’t expect people to dump rubbish in our gardens, we mustn’t accept it being dumped in our communities.

"Since we launched this campaign, the number of calls to report illegal dumping and culprits has increased. Tackling and fining the culprits, and improving the sense of local community with residents leading the way, is how we can all tackle this issue for the long-term.”

Cllr Amjid Wazir, cabinet member for environment and enforcement said: “The work does not stop here as we continue with a zero-tolerance approach to tackling illegal dumping in our towns.

"Now that the 1,000 cases have been cleared, we can begin to give that support and education to communities to help them to help themselves.

“Over the past month many residents have told us how unhappy they are that this issue blights our city, there is no excuse for people not disposing of their waste correctly.

"We are making our communities cleaner, brighter and more welcoming while taking firm action on those who insult their neighbours by illegally dumping their rubbish.

"We’re creating the opportunity for residents to take back their alleyways and community spaces, clear and safe from rubbish, and at a time when children are on school holidays and families can enjoy the outdoors and what our city has to offer.

“Now is the time for residents to take ownership of where they live and take pride in the city. The message remains clear: there is no place for illegal dumping in our towns.”