RESIDENTS have been praised for their part in a massive 37 tonne reduction in flytipped waste at a town recycling site.

A number of initiatives were put in place by Middlesbrough Council over the festive period aimed at preventing a repeat of Christmas 2014 when the Coulby Newham ‘bring site’ was overwhelmed by rubbish.

As a result of increased cleansing, use of CCTV and advice to residents, the amount of waste flytipped in front of the recycling bins dropped from just over 40 tonnes to just under three tonnes.

Cllr Tracy Harvey, the council’s executive member for environment, said: “We want to thank residents for taking on the advice issued before Christmas, in particular the reminder that our refuse collectors will take ‘side waste’ over Christmas and additional recycling in clear plastic bags all year round.

“The problems in 2014 no doubt began with well-meaning people wanting to do the right thing and recycle their extra wrapping paper and packaging at the ‘bring site’ but quite quickly got out of hand and escalated to a large-scale dumping operation, with carpets, electrical items and other bulky waste also thrown on the pile."