Talk about outrageous fly-tipping – one of the latest reports on FixMyStreet reports a bunch of household appliances simply dumped straight onto the pavement on St Oswald Street in Lancaster.
Local residents are up in arms about theses illegal activities, which grew during the Pandemic lockdown, and seem to show little sign of slowing down – but you can take steps yourself to avoid being caught up in this illegal trade.
The FixMyStreet offers a running summary of local fly-tipping reports to its site, which doesn’t include those made direct to the Council, but that alone paints a grim picture of continuing illegal activity, of rubbish simply dumped in alley ways, local country lanes, canals and rivers.
In December, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs data indicated 2,827 fly-tipping incidents were reported to Lancaster Council in 2020-21 – a 46% increase on the 1,942 discoveries made the year before. In December, the Lancaster Guardian reported Lancaster City Council carried out 852 enforcement actions in 2020-21, but no fines resulting from court convictions were issued in the area last year – down from eight in 2019-20.
These illegal activities cost the City Council thousands of pounds each year to clear, and fly tipping is even worse in country lanes, away from possible CCTV detection.
Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste on land not licensed to receive it. It can range from a black bag of household rubbish to multiple lorry loads of building waste. If you (or your waste carrier) are caught fly-tipping, you can be issued with a £400 fixed penalty notice.
Every householder, business and landowner is responsible for the proper removal of waste from their property. This includes waste removed by any trader or contractor on your behalf. If you’re having work done in your home, office or garden you should budget for responsible waste disposal, and check that your contractor is a registered waste carrier and will dispose of the waste properly.
Organisations such as Country Land and Business Association, the Countryside Alliance and Keep Britain Tidy all urge householders to take care when hiring a company for house clearance.
“A rogue house clearance company is to all extents and circumstances an unreliable, unprofessional, scam artist,” says the Association Of UK House Clearance Companies, which offers its own database of reputable clearance companies. “Their only intent is to fleece money from unsuspecting clients. It is essential that you thoroughly research any prospective house clearance company you are considering using before entering into an agreement.”
The Association has some top tips regarding house clearances and some warning signs to watch out for in its web site, which include…
- Does the person you are speaking to on the phone sound cagey, hesitant, or non confident?
- Are they promising the earth for very little money?
- Ask them if they will supply you with an invoice once the house clearance is completed? The invoice should contain all of their business details
- Are they asking for cash in hand?
- Beware of any house clearance company that will only provide you with a mobile contact number
- Is their website transparent? Do they have a registered office address shown?
- Remember, anyone can put together a website in a few hours. Take your time to go over their website thoroughly. Does it feel right to you? Just because they have a website, do not think they are accountable. “We’ve heard of many stories whereby people have been duped by professional looking websites that fail to live up to their promises,” say the Association. “For legal reasons we cannot name and shame them, but please be warned. Just because a site is listed on the Google search engine does not qualify it as being either ethical or professional.”
- Remember anyone can write phoney testimonials. Go with your first instinct; if something doesn’t feel right to you; it probably isn’t.
If you are a householder, you can dispose of 10 bags of inert waste each calendar year by applying for a free permit from Lancashire County Council. For information on how you can help please check out the Council’s Let’s S.C.R.A.P. fly-tipping leaflet (PDF, 1.5MB)