Environment Secretary Steve Reed has issued a crackdown on flytippers (Image: Getty)

       Cars and vans used by fly-tippers will be crushed as part of campaign to get “much more aggressive” on cowboy waste operators. Drones and mobile CCTV cameras will be deployed to identify vehicles so they can be destroyed by police and local authorities.

       The crackdown, announced today by Environment Secretary Steve Reed, follows an increase in fly-tipping incidents from 957,000 reported in 2018-19 to 1.15million in 2023-24. A third of incidents involved waste dumped on pavements or roads. But there were just 1,598 prosecutions over 12 months.

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       Mr Reed said: “Waste criminals and fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages have gone unpunished for too long. The Government is calling time on fly-tipping. I will not stand by while this avalanche of rubbish buries our communities.”

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       Councils currently have to bear the significant cost of seizing and storing vehicles but under new plans fly-tippers will have to pay the fees.

       In addition, any criminals caught transporting and dealing with waste illegally will now face up to five years in prison under new legislation.

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       The Environment Agency will also carry out identity and criminal record checks on operators in the sector so there is nowhere to hide for rogue firms.

       Waste operators will require permits, with the Environment agency able to remove the permit and issue fines if needed.

       Mr Reed told reporters at a car-crushing plant in Wokingham, Berkshire: “Councils will get much more aggressive against fly-tippers and that includes using the latest technology, things like the new mobile CCTV cameras and drones to identify, track and then seize the vehicles that are being used for fly-tipping to a yard like this and crush them.”

       He added: “We’re also looking to change the law so that those rogue operators who take rubbish from someone’s home and then dump it on a nearby road – they were getting away almost scot-free under the previous Government – they will now be looking at potentially five-year prison sentences.”

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       The measures have been backed by waste disposal businesses, who said criminals have been allowed to “run rampant”.

       Jacob Hayler, Executive Director of trade body the Environmental Services Association, said: “For too long, criminality has run rampant across the waste sector. These illegal activities threaten the environment; damage communities and undermine legitimate recycling and waste operations. ESA has long campaigned for tighter rules, tougher enforcement and harsher penalties to deter criminals, so we very much welcome today’s reforms and hope that they are put to good use driving criminals out of our sector.

       Environment Agency Chief Executive Philip Duffy said: “Waste crime is toxic. Criminals’ thoughtless actions harm people, places, and the economy, blighting our communities and disrupting legitimate businesses.”

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