Liverpool Council will now consider cases of dumped waste and fly-tipping around the city as "crime scenes" in a major new crackdown.
The council has identified the top 10 fly-tip hot spots in the city – and instead of collecting and disposing of the illegally dumped items it has decided to brand each waste case as an environmental crime scene.
Dressed in crime scene tape, the highly visual approach is being used to highlight the removal cost and to remind residents they are breaking the law if they dump materials in public locations.
READ MORE: Family forced to huddle together in same bed after heating and hot water turned off
Last year, the council spent almost £1 million to remove fly-tipped waste, at a time when public funds are tight, and the council is currently having to find £73 million in savings in the next financial year.
The intelligence-led awareness campaign, which is also using street stencils to highlight the cost of the offence, is the latest instalment of the new Keep Liverpool Tidy partnership between the City Council and Keep Britain Tidy.
As part of phase one of the new campaign, the City Council launched a ‘shame’ approach at the start of November across all of its social media channels, utilising imagery from a new generation of CCTV cameras it has installed.
The sharing of images of offenders caught in the act is being used to make residents aware that the council is watching those who illegally fly tip and is taking action to hold them responsible. The tactic has been hugely successful, generating more than 1 million views and drawing extensive media coverage.
Since the campaign launch, the council’s City Watch and Street Scene team has identified 23 cases for potential prosecution. Two culprits have already accepted responsibility and £400 fines have successfully been issued. Evidence is also being compiled for a number of cases to be sent to court.
The 10 hotspot locations for the new fly-tipping campaign are:
- Picton: Liberty Street
- Picton: Smithdown Road/Longfellow Street
- Picton/Greenbank: Lawrence Road
- Anfield: Becky Street
- Kirkdale: Love Lane
- Tuebrook: Lower Breck Road
- Tuebrook: Buckingham Road
- Central/City Centre: Fleet Street
- Princes Park: Huskisson Street
- Garston: Blackburne Street
Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, who is also the Cabinet lead for Waste Management in the city, said: “We’re serious about tackling fly-tipping here in Liverpool and that’s why we have launched our new campaign to ensure we are making our neighbourhoods cleaner.
“Fly-tipping and other types of waste crime ruin our neighbourhoods and environment, and everyone has a responsibility to ensure that waste is disposed of legally and safely. This means making sure that anyone who is handling your waste is licensed to do so, it is also important you know where your waste will end up, otherwise you run the risk of receiving a £400 fine or even in some cases, legal action.
“To support phase two of our campaign, we are in the process of recruiting five new enforcement officers to provide additional support in tackling the issue and significantly reducing the number of fly-tipping incidents in our city.”
READ NEXT:
Three schoolboys dead after falling into an icy lake in Solihull
Woman, 26, fighting for life after being hit by van
Police close roads after crashes in bad weather conditions
Family forced to huddle together in same bed after heating and hot water turned off
Rhod Gilbert given stage four cancer diagnosis after finding 'lumps'
