Higher fines for fly-tipping in council crackdown

Council officers are often tasked with trawling through waste themselves, taking photos of any names and addresses on the waste to try and identify the offenders

Fly-tippers are set to be punished with higher fines, the leader of a council has warned.

Penalties doled out to people caught fly-tipping in Slough, Berkshire, will rise in line with those in neighbouring areas, borough council leader Dexter Smith said.

Fines are expected to rise from £200 to £1000, with Mr Smith adding that he did not want to be seen as a “soft touch”.

The changes could be made later this year.

At a council meeting, Mr Smith said: “It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Slough is not charging the same penalty that neighbouring boroughs are so we’re raising it to the same level as neighbouring boroughs which is £1,000.”

The default fixed penalty charge for fly-tippers in Slough is currently £200, according to council documents published in February.

But the government raised the maximum fixed penalty notice that councils can issue from £400 to £1,000 in July.

Fines will be cut to £500 if they are paid within ten days, council plans also revealed.

The announcement came after government data revealed only 2% of fly-tipping cases in Slough resulted in a prosecution or fine.

A total of 1,258 instances of fly-tipping were reported from 2022 to 2023, with Slough Borough Council only taking action on 322.

Of these, only 27 Fixed Penalty Notices were given out and no prosecution actions were taken.

In January, a council spokesperson said the council would enforce a fixed penalty notice or prosecution when the council had enough evidence.

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