A fly tipping event has been held in Dartmouth organised by the Devon and Cornwall Police Rural Affairs team together with South Hams District Council, the Environment Agency, Clean Devon and Trading Standards.

They set up a staged fly-tip using items from genuine incidents with the aim of raising awareness of the consequences of fly tipping and how to report it.

Leader of the Clean Devon Partnership and Principal Waste Manager at Devon County Council Annette Dentith said: “We're talking to the public and explaining the sorts of things we need them to do to to reduce fly-tipping across the county.

“We are also progressing with an initiative to put up CCTV cameras in the area.

“Countywide fly-tipping costs taxpayers about £250,000 a year.

Localities Supervisor Claire Tyson has this advice: “If people have rubbish to get rid of, they need to either take it to a household waste recycling centre, or they can have bulky household waste collected by SHDC for a small fee (£25 per individual item).

“Of course, it might be reusable, so you might be able to sell it or give it away, which would be fantastic.”

Annette added: “There's also repair cafes where you can have items repaired, so don't immediately think that you need to throw it away but if you discover a fly tip on the moor or anywhere else, what you need to do is report it.

“You can do that via a number of means, specifically South Hams District Council, but also to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111, if you want to do it anonymously, or the Environment Agency, if it's a big, bad and nasty fly tip, that's the phrase that is used.”

The advice is not to give your waste away to a cold caller or even on social media because people that offer a cheap collection may well not be licensed to carry waste and they may tip it or take it to a non-licensed premises.

Claire described the process: “When we find evidence, people's names and addresses within a fly-tip we get in touch with them and they have to come in for an interview and find out what's happened.

“More often than not, it's because they've had cold callers or somebody's put a leaflet through their door to say, we'll take your rubbish away or they've responded to a Facebook post.

“People don't realise, perhaps, that if they give their waste away to someone, that person fly-tips it, and there's evidence available, then that person, the owner of the waste, can be fined.”

The Standard Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for fly tipping is £500 reduced to £250 if paid within 14 days but is a criminal offence which, if it goes to court, can result un an unlimited fine and up to five years in prison.

Tradespeople are responsible for any rubbish they generate by working at your property,

To find out more you can visit: https://cleandevon.org/

For the SHDC Bulky Waste Collection Service you can visit: https://www.southhams.gov.uk/bulky-waste