Three tonnes of flytipped rubbish including 800 tyres costs Calderdale Council £4,500 to clear up

The clean-up effort involved 14 people, ten vans and additional traffic management operatives and vehicles.

It took the group around five hours to clear a large amount of tyres and other rubbish which had been dumped along a long stretch of the road.

Three tonnes of rubbish was cleared, with over 800 tyres collected. The whole operation cost the Council around £4500.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Services, Councillor Jenny Lynn, said: “The recent case of fly tipping along Cold Edge Road was a serious and selfish crime, which not only caused a danger to the environment, but also blighted the landscape on one of our most scenic, moorland routes.

“Incidents like this one require a great deal of resource to resolve and cost a significant amount of taxpayers’ money to clear away. We do all we can to tackle the issue, but also rely on eyewitness reports to provide key evidence to catch the culprits and prevent issues in future.

“If you witness fly tipping or are aware of who might be involved in these crimes, please don’t hesitate to let us know, alternatively it can be reported to Crimestoppers (https://crimestoppers-uk.org). All reports are taken seriously and are always anonymous.”

Although this was a serious example of fly tipping, the Council has said it continues to deal with a high number of illegal dumping/ fly tipping cases, costing an average of around £200,000 per year.

Catching the culprits of this serious crime relies heavily on eye-witness reports and any information provided by local people is taken seriously and is always treated anonymously the Council said.

Where evidence is found, the Council will prosecute those responsible and it continues work with the Environment Agency and the Police to bring perpetrators of environmental crime to justice. Serious offenders could face a fine of £50,000 or up to five years in prison.

Extensive work also takes place to prevent fly tipping occurring in the first place and the Council’s community protection team carry out regular patrols at fly tipping hotspots.

A recent operation on Cold Edge Road prevented a pickup truck from dumping tree cuttings along the road. The Council also uses technology to catch culprits in action, with mobile cameras deployed to problem areas.

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