Fly-tipping up 25% in Westminster, but no prosecutions

5.17.53pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 24th Jun 2007

More fly-tipping in Westminster, but still no prosecutions by the Council

Both the number of instances of fly-tipping locally and the cost of clearing it are up by a quarter in just one year, according to official figures released to the Liberal Democrats. At the same time, not a single prosecution has been pursued by Westminster City Council against those dumping their rubbish.

The statistics reveal that there were 10,365 incidences of fly-tipping in Westminster in 2005/06, compared to 8,295 in 2004/05.

Meanwhile the clearance cost was £420,222 in the latest year, up from £338,678 previously.

At the same time, and despite hundreds of prosecutions in London as a whole, Westminster City Council pursued no prosecutions at all for fly-tippers in their area.

Local Liberal Democrat Sophie Service said, "Westminster needs to get serious in tackling fly-tipping. Over £420,000 was spent in just a year clearing this mess up. Yet despite that, there was not a single prosecution here in Westminster.

"The Council needs to make it easier for people to dispose of their waste, whilst cracking down on fly-tipping.

"This is yet another piece of evidence that Westminster isn't been run as well as the Conservatives like to tell you it is."