A multi-agency clampdown against fly-tipping and other offences has this week seen police and council officials make their 31st seizure of a vehicle suspected of being used to illegally store or dump rubbish.
Police and council officials were conducting vehicle checks on the Purley Way this week to clamp down on fly-tipping and other offences
More than 30 officers from Croydon Council patrolled locations across the borough on Tuesday with counterparts from the Metropolitan Police, HM Revenue and Customs and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). The operation ranged from fly-tip patrols in Thornton Heath to vehicle spot checks in Purley Way.
Council officers impounded a Ford Transit parked on Pawsons Road in Thornton Heath. The van had no number plates and building waste and oil drums in the back.
The council will now search for the registered owner, and if they do not come forward the van will be crushed.
Meanwhile, council environmental enforcement officers, police officers and DVSA staff pulled over 40 vans and lorries on Purley Way in Waddon to check drivers had full licences and insurance, were not carrying waste which might be fly-tipped and that their vehicle was roadworthy.
One delivery driver’s vehicle was seized after DVSA officers found it had faulty brakes.
Part of the operation involved checks on 130 businesses to make sure they had the correct licence to dispose of business waste properly. Twenty-nine of these will now seek to increase their current waste contract with the council, while the rest had the correct contract for their business needs.
Stuart Collins: overseen six multi-agency operations against fly-tippers in 2017
The operation also led to six people being issued with £80 fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping, plus 11 received parking tickets. Leaflets were also handed to local businesses and residents about the council’s growing time-banded waste collection policy.
The joint operation is the sixth such event in 2017 as part of the council’s Don’t Mess With Croydon – Take Pride campaign, which combines enforcement with encouraging local volunteers to lead community clear-ups.
“This kind of operation is a good way for the council and our partners to clamp down on vehicles being driven illegally and to tackle fly-tippers who flout the rules,” said Stuart Collins, the council cabinet member for clean and green Croydon.
Since 2014, Croydon Council has more than doubled the number of staff – from 19 to 40 – dealing with reports of fly-tips and other street cleaning issues.
“I’m pleased our dedicated council officers have impounded their 31st van used for fly-tipping, as that makes it harder for criminals to blight our Croydon residents’ local environment,” Collins said.
To report a fly-tip in Croydon, call the council via 020 8726 6200 or email flytip@croydon.gov.uk.
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