ALMOST 4,000 fly-tipping incidents have been reported to Warrington Borough Council over the past three years, it can be revealed.

In total, 1,449 incidents were reported to the authority’s environmental crime team in 2016, 1,402 in 2017 and 1,146 so far this year.

Cllr Judith Guthrie (LAB – Westbrook), executive board member for environment and public protection, is calling on residents to help the borough in its battle against those illegally dumping waste.

She said: “Current legislation allows councils to take action against those who fly-tip, where there is sufficient evidence to do so.

“Unfortunately, most complaints submitted to the council are not accompanied by any information to help determine who might be responsible and there is no evidence within the waste to highlight who it belonged to.

“We appreciate that it is often difficult to witness fly-tipping taking place but we would welcome as much information as possible in order to target enforcement and identify who is responsible.

“This could include names, addresses and descriptions of the individuals involved, car vehicle registrations or details of vehicles involved and the time of day when the incident occurred.”

Cllr Tony Higgins (LAB – Fairfield and Howley), executive board member for leisure and community, raised concerns over the financial impact of fly-tipping.

He said: “I’m pleased to note that the number of fly-tipping reports being submitted is decreasing.

“Fly-tipping blights our community, often damaging the good work undertaken by many residents to make where they live better.

“I know, from my own experience in Fairfield and Howley, of the consequences that such thoughtless actions can have on a community.

“Working together to act against such criminal behaviour will, as we are seeing, help to reduce and ultimately defeat those that think it is ok to fly-tip on our streets.

“Fly-tipping hits the council taxpayer hard in the pocket.”

The authority says it is unable to confirm the fly-tipping clearance costs for the past three years.

To report fly-tipping visit warrington.gov.uk/report.