THE cost of clearing up after fly-tippers across Hambleton has soared with incidents of dumping rising following charges being introduced at recycling centres.

Last year the district council faced a bill of £44,000 for clearing up the mess left behind from 293 incidents - compared to £23,000 the year before from 237 incidents.

But over the past three years there have been no prosecutions for fly-tipping by the council because of the problems of gathering evidence and, in some cases, offenders offering to pay costs.

In 2015/16 five offenders paid a total of £754, in 2016/17 three offenders paid £490 and up to October 2017 one offender paid £200 with a second summonsed to court.

The district’s scrutiny committee called for an investigation into fly-tipping and found that the policy for enforcement was not currently effective or fit for purpose and it is currently being reviewed.

Councillors are calling for improvements with increased publicity and promotion, including a special page on the council’s website for reporting fly tipping and more agency working with neighbouring authorities.

In a report to the council’s cabinet the committee found: “Whilst incidents of fly-tipping of household waste had decreased, there had been an increase in the incidents of fly-tipped tyres and construction waste.

“This showed a direct correlation with the implementation of charging for these materials at the North Yorkshire County Council-run household waste and recycling centres.”

The committee was told Hambleton introduced garden waste charging in April 2017 and this had drawn considerable resources away from other areas - however the system was now up and running so staff were prioritising work with increased publicity about fly-tipping and plans to encourage people to “name and shame."

A county council spokesman said they had been monitoring fly-tipping trends for a number of years along with Hambleton District Council and the other partners within the York and North Yorkshire Waste Partnership.

“We are interested in any new information that shows links between increases in fly-tipping and the introduction of charges for non-household waste at the household waste recycling centres.

“NYCC does not condone any form of waste crime, which includes fly-tipping, and will continue to work with our partners to deliver ways to deter and prosecute offenders.”