Sheffield Council defends fly-tipping record

The Government brought in new legislative powers in May which allows councils to hand out fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping offences.

But since the new law was introduced in May, figures released by Sheffield Council show it had issued just one fine using the new powers.

Councils in Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle handed out 104 fines between them raking in more than £20,000.

But councils in Nottingham, Wakefield, Leicester, Leeds, Bristol, Bradford, Birmingham, Sunderland, Coventry and Derby issued none.

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Sheffield Council has issued just ONE fine for fly-tipping offences in seven monthsSheffield Council said it issued 18 fines in total for fly-tipping offences under other powers.

Coun Bryan Lodge, cabinet member for environment at Sheffield Council, said: “We work hard to prevent and clear up fly-tipping and littering in Sheffield.

“Since May 2016 we have issued 18 fines relating to dumped waste, four of those cases were fixed penalty notices under the new government legislation for fly tipping.

“While the new legislation has given local authorities more powers to deal with these incidents, we must still have sufficient evidence of the offence before an FPN can be issued.”

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