BACK alleyways now account for more than half of all fly-tipping incidents in Darlington, alongside a “worrying” increase in trucks full of waste being dumped in the borough, a report has revealed.

More than 3,000 fly tips were recorded by Darlington Borough Council between 2017 and 2018, which is the highest number of incidents recorded through a national database since 2015.

The figures published in a council document are set to be scrutinised by a committee meeting tomorrow morning, where they will discuss general fly tipping and waste in back lanes.

Within the five council authorities in the Tees Valley area, Darlington was second only to Redcar for the number of fly tipping incidents throughout the last year, with 1,629 fly tips recorded in back alleys.

Council land and highways and footpaths are also highlighted as popular locations for people to illegally dump waste, with the majority of fly tips being household items in black bags alongside furniture, mattresses and three piece suites.

Asbestos and chemical drums have also been found discarded in the borough, with the report highlighting that larger fly tips are often made by private companies.

The council papers for the Place Scrutiny Committee states: “More worrying is a significant increase in larger fly tips, which are usually a large truck load and generally tend to be waste collected from households by private waste collection companies, which is then deposited illegally across the borough.

“The council has committed additional resources to both Street Scene and Community Safety and whilst fly tipping problems continue, there are now additional resources to clean up, and subject to available evidence, take forward further prosecutions to the courts.

“Alongside this, we will continue to name and shame individuals who are prosecuted through the courts and continue with the message that the council has a zero tolerance approach to fly tipping and anyone caught will be prosecuted.”

More than 100 individuals or companies have been prosecuted by Darlington Borough Council over fly-tipping matters, with fixed penalty notices also being issued.

However, the report also found that the number of actions taken against perpetrators has “reduced” over recent years, “which is a result of reductions in resources”.

The council slashed more than 40 per cent from its street cleaning resources as part of budget cuts two years ago, with back lanes across the borough being cleansed fortnightly as opposed to weekly.