8:53am Saturday 20th March 2010
By Bruce Unwin
ENFORCEMENT officers have staged a two-day blitz on fly-tippers in the North-East.
The Environment Agency’s Swat fly-tipping team worked with three police forces in the crackdown on waste crime in the region.
Eight teams, including council officials, targeted illegallyoperating waste carriers.
Code-named Operation Venus, patrols covered an area from Northumberland to east Cleveland, including County Durham and Teesside.
Swat team leader Kate Halka said: “Fly-tipping is a major blight on our communities.
“Unscrupulous people make a good living out of taking waste, dumping it illegally to avoid charges.
“They visit homes and businesses, offering to remove waste and scrap metal, from both residential and commercial premises, and they may not be registered waste carriers.”
She said special attention was paid to vehicles carrying tyres, which are a major fly-tipping problem.
“Our staff worked closely with police officers from Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland, and moved around the region to stay one step ahead of these rogue waste carriers who tried to escape our net.”
Fixed penalty notices were issued to illegal waste carriers.
Sergeant Jason Ryder, of Northumbria Police motor patrols section, said: “We have a tough stance on fly-tipping and will continue to work alongside the agency and other partner organisations to ensure our communities remain clean and safe.”
Results available from Operation Venus show 56 vehicles were stopped for checks for waste and roadworthiness.
Four people were reported for waste-carrying offences in Bishop Auckland and Sunderland, and may face prosecution.
In Northumberland, two £300 fixed penalty notices were issued for not having a waste carrier’s licence and three vehicles were confiscated for other offences.
More than 58,000 incidents of flytipping were dealt with in the region last year, at a cost of £4m to council taxpayers.
Anyone with information about fly-tipping incidents can report them to their local authority, or to the Environment Agency, on 0800- 807060, with all calls treated confidentially.
■ In a recent Environment Agency prosecution, a man was fined £215 and ordered to pay £1,971 costs by a judge at Durham Crown Court.
Unemployed joiner Liam Gowland, 22, of Langdale Street, Hetton-le-Hole, admitted illegally depositing household waste in a field off the approach road to Finchale Priory, near Durham, on April 27 last year.
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