Fly-tippers dump piles of rubbish near a £50,000 fine for littering sign

Fly-tippers dumped piles of household rubbish next to a children's playground and beside a sign warning offenders they could face a £50,000 fine.

More than a dozen black bin liners, discarded toys and an old TV set were left behind the playground at Lon Glanfor in Belgrano, near Abergele.

Abergele councillor Andrew Wood says there has been an increase in illegal dumping which he blames on tip charges being introduced by Conwy Council in 2017.

Conwy Council said in a statement there is no excuse for fly-tipping as there is not charge for disposing household rubbish.

Cllr Wood is urging the authority to prosecute anyone caught dumping rubbish illegally and to consider scrapping the controversial charges.

County residents have to pay for dropping off waste like soil, rubble, plasterboard, tiles and tyres.

In Mochdre and Abergele it costs £3 to leave a bag of rubble and £30 for a trailer load of wood or soil.

Since the charges and monthly bin collections have been introduced fly-tipping has increased.

For these months in both years, more than half of these incidents involved bulky household items, such as white goods, sofas, bikes, carpet, mattresses and prams.

Black bin waste accounted for 22% of the 2017 incidents, and 25% of the 2018 incidents.

Councillor Wood says more could be done to catch fly-tippers.

In a response, Conwy Council said there is no charge for disposing of any of the items found in this latest fly-tipping in Belgrano.