FLYTIPPING has surged in Richmondshire over the past three months – with a blackspot at one of the district’s recycling centres

People visiting the bring bank at Brompton-on-Swale – which takes paper, cans and bottles – are regularly leaving household furniture, appliances and building waste.

But now the district council is sending a stark warning to those flytippers – cameras are watching the site and recording vehicle registration numbers. Fines and prosecutions are planned to follow.

“We have been watching the Brompton site for some time seeing people dumping rubbish and abusing the facility,” said corporate director, Colin Dales.

“It is a big site off the main road so these people think it’s easy to dump without being seen. We will be issuing fines and progressing with prosecutions where needed. A few unscrupulous people are spoiling the facility for others.”

He said that in the year to March 2020 there were 256 reported incidents of flytipping across the district including nine at bring banks.

In the three months to June this year there have already been 112 reports including six at the Brompton-on-Swale site.

“We have already seen 50 per cent of our annual flytipping cases in three months and this is costing the district council time and money - whether we are collecting it from the roadside ourselves, hiring specialist companies to deal with hazardous waste or simply pursuing the culprits,” added Mr Dales.

He said residents paying for their bulky waste to be removed must make sure the collector has a waste disposal licence – as they are responsible for the waste if it is flytipped.