By Fly tippers fill Grimsby streets with Christmas rubbish
Streets in Immingham and Grimsby have been filled with Christmas rubbish as fly tippers have overflown them with improper waste.
North East Lincolnshire’s street cleaning team were left with their work cut out after people filled recycling bins with waste from Christmas presents and parties.
They spent hours cleaning up the mess as streets near the bins were covered in rubbish such as old mattresses, empty bottles and cans and empty boxes.
There is a £400 fine for fly tipping, but that doesn’t seem to have discouraged any of these residents, despite CCTV being in place at some sites.
In 2020, council workers cleared 286.6 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish, costing the Council over £72,000.
Cllr Ron Shepherd, portfolio holder for safer and stronger communities, has made it clear that fly tipping is not acceptable, saying:
“Fly-tipping is a crime and the council investigates all incidents. Anyone who is caught risks a £400 fixed penalty notice.
“Where we find enough evidence, we will take offenders to court where the penalties can be much harsher.
“Fly-tipping is a national problem. We all have a legal obligation, or duty of care, to make sure our waste is disposed of correctly.
“Most people dispose of their waste responsibly, but a small minority don’t.
“The best way to stop organised fly tipping is to make sure that only authorised waste carriers take your waste away.”
Last year, 53 people were fined £400 for fly tipping and a further 11 were fined £100 for littering.
Sites on Kennedy Way and Fisherman’s Wharf were the victim of such excessive fly tipping in a post-Christmas cleanup.
North East Lincolnshire Council is part of the SCRAP campaign, a national crackdown on fly tipping.
The Council are urging people to take any extra rubbish to the tip in Grimsby or Immingham.
They are also appealing for anyone with any information on those who have fly tipped rubbish to contact them here.
