Residents 'horrified' at scale of '6ft high' fly-tipping piles of rubbish on street

Residents in Seaforth are in despair after mounds of heavy duty rubbish were dumped at the end of their street. Sefton Council is now investigating the ‘horrifying’ incident after carpets, fridges, sofas, doors and mattresses were found discarded on a residential street. One resident has now called for urgent action after witnessing the ‘worst case’ of fly-tipping they have ever seen.

Fly-tipping or the illegal disposal of household, industrial, commercial or other waste is a serious criminal offence and costs local authorities across the country tens of millions of pounds. Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show there were 3,903 fly-tipping incidents in Sefton in 2023.

Despite the huge number of fly-tipping incidents across the borough, Sefton Council was slammed by Neil Doolin from the Sefton Green Party after a freedom of information request revealed only 14 fixed penalty notices had been issued. Mr Doolin said: “It’s clear the Council’s current strategy simply isn’t working. It’s clear the Labour Party who have now controlled Sefton for over 12 years simply don’t have the ideas to tackle the problems.”

Mr Doolin has now called for the implementation of mobile CCTV units in fly-tipping hotspots, advocated for the removal of the £10 charge for bulky waste collection and asked for additional council officers to enforce action against fly-tippers.

The latest incident was reported by a local resident who provided shocking images in which heavy duty waste can be seen dumped across the street. The resident, who asked not to be named, said: “The fly tipping is completely out of control and some of it is like five or six feet high.

“I can’t believe how bad fly tipping is in Merseyside, but what is now practically on my door step is the worse case I have ever seen. I am horrified by the fly tipping, and the scale of it is beyond anything I have witnessed in Sefton previously. It clearly is a free for all and I have to assume it’s not just local people fly tipping in the car park, but people with vans and lorries given the amount of mess that is there.”

Statistics for fly-tipping for 2022-23 reveals the clearance cost of large items for local authorities in England was £13.2m. Additionally, figures cited by Chief executive of Keep Britain tidy, Allison Ogden-Newton suggest the total cost of clearing up all forms of fly-tipping is more than £50m.

A Sefton Council spokesperson said: “Having been made aware of an instance of fly tipping in Seaforth, we are now investigating it. We will try to identify and take action against whoever is responsible for this and will ensure that it is removed as soon as possible.

“Rubbish dumped in this way can become a serious health and safety problem if not tackled quickly and costs the Council hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to clean up and dispose of. Residents and businesses should dispose of all waste correctly and take large quantities such as this to one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres, based in Bootle, Maghull, Southport and Formby.

“Anyone caught fly tipping will receive a Fixed Penalty Notice of £400. Fly tipping can be reported to Sefton Council online or by calling 0345 140 0845.”