Report fly-tipping and rubbish

bags of rubbish and other items dumped on the street

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste or rubbish. Fly-tipping refers to larger items that are dumped, which can be anything more than a single sack of rubbish.

Anyone fly-tipping waste is committing a serious offence. If you are found to have committed a fly-tipping offence, then you may be subject to a fixed penalty notice of £1000 with an early payment option of £450 if paid within 10 days of issue. In some cases, we may consider to prosecute offenders which can lead to a £50,000 fine or up to 12 months imprisonment.

We clear fly-tipping from the highway and council owned land. We are not responsible for clearing fly-tipping from private land, although we can still investigate and take action against the offender.

Where fly-tipping involves the use of a vehicle, the driver can be prosecuted, as can the person who owns the vehicle.

Report fly tipping

You can report an incident of fly-tipping using the button below or by contacting us on 01242 262626.

So that we can deal with your report as quickly as possible, please make sure you have the following pieces of information to hand before you make your report:

  • details of the incident including a description of any people involved
  • the date and time of the incident
  • vehicle registration (if applicable)
  • the location of the incident
  • the type of waste. Is it harmful or hazardous?
  • any additional evidence you have such as photos or videos

Please note all details received will be treated in the strictest of confidence and not disclosed to the target of your complaint but we may need to contact you whilst we investigate the case further.

Report fly-tipping

What happens next?

A neighbourhood team officer will investigate your report to gain further evidence of the offence.

If you are a witness in the offence or have supplied details of a vehicle registration number then we will need you to give a statement. We will supply you with a template to complete which you can send back to us via email or post.

The case will be allocated to a neighbourhood officer to investigate within three working days of your report being submitted. An officer will complete a visit to the location within 24 hours and you will receive contact from the case officer with an update of progress on your report.

In cases where there is sufficient evidence, offenders may be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £1000, with an early payment option of £450 if paid within 10 days of issue. In other cases, we may decide to prosecute offenders which can lead to a fine of £50,000 or up to 12 months imprisonment.

If there is insufficient evidence to investigate, we may be unable to pursue your report but we will update you on the rare occasion that this occurs.

Rubbish bins or bags on the highway

Our Clean Green team will work with households to help educate people about the best way to dispose of their waste. If you are unsure about how to present your waste you should email the Clean Green team or call 01242 262626 to discuss it further.

If we find that a household doesn't respond to our advice and are still not complying with our waste requirements then the issue will be passed to the neighbourhood team for investigation.

Overflowing litter bins

Please email [email protected] to report an overflowing litter bin, or call us on 01242 262626.


If you need to discuss an existing case please email [email protected] or call 01242 264135.