Bradford Council uses hidden cameras to try and catch fly-tippers

Five covert CCTV cameras have been bought by Bradford Council in a bid to boost the number of illegal tippers being prosecuted.

Another four cameras have also been purchased which are due to be installed on lampposts to deter fly-tippers at hotspots in the city.

Steve Hartley, the council's environment director, said the aim was to be more proactive and put perpetrators in front of the courts.

He said: "The five cameras record onto a hard drive, and are designed to be hidden at locations where CCTV cameras are not suitable such as rural locations and lay-bys.

Fly-tipping spotted by a T&A photographer in Upper Castle Street, West Bowling

"They will increase our capacity to capture fly-tipping incidents and to prosecute offenders."

Mr Hartley also said the authority would be working with private landowners to identify long-term solutions to reduce and prevent fly-tipping at sites where rubbish is regularly dumped.

"This will include encouraging the landowner to sell or develop the site, fence off the land, or ensure waste is removed regularly from the site," he said.

Bradford Council's environment director Steve Hartley

"In cases where land ownership is known, enforcement action may also be considered and the Enforcement Team can prosecute landowners for allowing waste to accumulate on their land."

Councillors have welcomed the use of hidden cameras to catch fly-tippers.

Bradford Council leader David Green said taking fly-tippers to court and making a case "stick" was a challenge.

In 2014/15 the authority bought 29 prosecutions at a cost of £11,918. In 2015/16, until February 10, only seven prosecutions were made, at a cost of £3,227 - despite an increase in reports of fly-tipping from 7,043 to 7,134 in the same period.

"Anything we can do to reduce fly-tipping needs to be seriously considered," Councillor Green said.

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"In my ward there is land with planning permission that hasn't been developed and is used for fly-tipping.

"We continue to go back to the owner to clear it, and when they do it just comes back again."

Cllr Simon Cooke, leader of Conservative group on Bradford Council, said the new cameras were "awesome".

"I think the way technology is helping do this is great, and it will be really interesting to see how the evidence is tested in court," he said.

However, Liberal Democrat group leader Jeanette Sunderland criticised the council for making it too complicated for people to get rid of waste, saying they should make it easier.

"The council must make it easier for people to get rid of their waste," she said.

Businessman Steve Hobson, whose Bowling-based company was blighted by fly-tipping in January, welcomed the council's new cameras.

Steve Hobson with fly-tipping near his business in January

Mr Hobson, the general manager of Panda Engineering, said: "It's absolutely a good idea, the whole Bowling area seems to be notorious for fly-tipping.

"At the end of our road where there is often fly-tipping there is a camera in plain view on a lamppost, and if it's not a deterrent it should at least make it easier to catch those responsible."

One resident said fly-tipping near her home was attracting vermin to the area.

Les Anderson, who lives in Halifax Road, Buttershaw, said: "There's quite a lot of rubbish being dumped at the side of my house, and my car is bringing rats home.

"There is two fridge-freezers, a carpet, a mattress, a chest of drawers, some tins of paint and ten to 15 bin bags at the side of my house, and they've been there for a month.

Bradford Council hopes to catch more people who leave a mess like this

"It is sectioned off for us to put our bins in, but because of the fly-tipping we have to put our bins in the garden, and people just keep coming and adding to the mess.

"We want it all shifted, it's disgusting and attracting rats and it just needs to go."

Currently, the council will not collect bathroom suites, fitted kitchens, DIY waste, mirrors and various kinds of hazardous waste.

A recent council scrutiny committee agreed to ask for a review of the type of bulky waste items that the council will collect.