No increase in fly tipping since recycling centres shut

There has been no increase in fly tipping in the three weeks since recycling centres were forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, Shropshire Council has said.

The county’s five recycling centres, in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Whitchurch, Craven Arms and Bridgnorth, shut on March 24.

Similar measures across the country have led to warnings over fly-tipping, with the Countryside Alliance revealing some areas had seen a spike in reported incidents of up to 300 per cent.

The group put the rise down to people “taking the opportunity to spring clean our homes and gardens” – but having nowhere to take their rubbish.

But while fly tipping remains a problem for Shropshire Council – with incident numbers up on last year – the authority has not seen a sudden jump in incidents since lockdown meausres came into force.

Carmen Eccleston, Shropshire Council’s streetscene manager, said the situation was being closely monitored.

Ms Eccleston said: “Having checked our data for the number of fly tips reported in Shropshire Council’s area in the last four-week period, and comparing it to the same period in 2019, there is an increase in reported incidents of around 10 per cent.

“This is a trend generally in 2020, compared to 2019 – even before the virus pandemic.

“Therefore, currently we are not seeing any significant increase as a result of the temporary closure of the household recycling centres. However, we will continue to monitor the situation.”

The council has not yet decided when the recycling centres will be re-opened, but people are being urged to hold on to any unwanted items until then.

Shropshire Council recorded a total of 1,035 fly tipping incidents in 2018/19, the last complete year for which figures are available – but no one was fined or prosecuted.