Fly tipping

Flytipping

Contact: Customer Service Centre
Phone: (01395) 517528
Email: streetscene@eastdevon.gov.uk
Online: report fly tipping eform

East Devon District Council's Fly tipping Responsibilities

Streetscene is responsible for the removal of fly tipping from EDDC property, Devon County Council highways, roads, pavements and lay-bys. We do not remove fly tipping from private property: this is the responsibility of the landowner.  To report fly tipping on public land, please complete our online fly tipping form.

What is Fly tipping?

Fly tipping is the illegal dumping of waste. It can vary in scale significantly from a bin bag of household rubbish to large quantities of waste dumped from trucks. Fly tipped waste may be found anywhere, such as roadsides, in lay-bys or on private land.

A wide variety of wastes are fly tipped. These include household rubbish, large domestic items, such as fridges and mattresses, garden refuse, dead animals, tyres and clinical waste.

Large amounts of waste from construction, demolition and excavation activities are sometimes dumped. A quarter of illegal dumping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency in 2002 involved this type of waste.

Fly tipping is a problem because:

  • It is estimated to cost £100-£150 million every year to investigate and clear up. The cost falls on taxpayers and private landowners
  • Fly tipping poses a threat to humans and wildlife, damages our environment, and spoils our enjoyment of our towns and countryside
  • Fly tipping undermines legitimate waste businesses where illegal operators undercut those operating within the law. At the same time, the reputation of legal operators is undermined by rogue traders
  • As with other factors that affect local environment quality, areas subject to repeated fly tipping may suffer declining property prices and local businesses may suffer as people stay away.

Our Respond, Enforce and Clean Team (REACT) endeavour to investigate and remove the majority of fly tips within 24 hours of them being reported to us. However, some very large or remote fly tips may take us slightly longer.

Reporting Fly tipping

Fly tipping is a serious crime and EDDC always look to catch and prosecute those committing it. It is punishable by up to 2 years imprisonment and/or up to a £50,000 fine upon conviction.

Please contact us if you witness any fly tipping or have any information that could help us track down offenders. Please also report any fly tipped waste to us as soon as possible to avoid any delay in it being cleared. To report fly tipping to us, please complete our online fly tipping form.

When contacting East Devon District Council please take a moment to think about what you are going to say before calling. Your call is important to us but with the high volume of calls a possible lack of information could result in either delayed reaction time or even the named problems not being found.

The use of the following 5 W's can help everyone:

  • Who - you are and if possible a contact telephone number
  • What - is the problem
  • Where - the problem is (road names and reference or prominent points reduce the time spent searching for problems)
  • When - the problem was first noticed /occurred
  • Which - actions, if any, you or anyone else have taken and any other relevant information

EDDC works in partnership with the local Police. If you have information that is valuable to them, please call 08452 777444. Wa also work with neighbouring local authorities and the Environment Agency in tackling fly tipping within East Devon and the surrounding areas.

For further information on fly tipping, click here to visit the Environment Agency website.

Page last updated on 7 February 2012