Kingston Council are working with their waste contractor to tackle fly tipping in the borough.

While Kingston had some of the fewest fly tipping reports in London between 2019-20 they still believe there is work to be done to reduce and deter criminal fly tippers.

The council wants to work to educate residents and businesses on how to dispose of their waste safely and legally.

Fly tipping hotspots have been identified and now targeted by the council's enforcement team and waste contractor Veolia.

The move comes after several residents complained on Twitter of rubbish blocking their streets.

In April this year, Kingston Independent Residents Group (KIRG) used the hashtag #binmaggedin to express their outrage over the dumped waste.

In one post the group wrote: "Once again the Surbiton Road parade of shops is strewn with rubbish!

"Flat dwellers are supposed to have their refuse collected daily, but it doesn't happen so the parade is drowning in garbage."

In a statement at the time, Kingston Council said: "In recent weeks our officers have issued penalty notices to several businesses in Surbiton that have been disposing of their commercial waste illegally by fly tipping.

"We have a beautiful borough which we are determined to keep clean.

"We will continue to issue penalty notices and indeed prosecute those that don't dispose of their waste in the proper way.

"It is not fair that the majority of residents who do their best to reduce, reuse and recycle have to suffer the impact of fly tipping which is caused by a minority of selfish people."

What is fly-tipping?

The Government classes fly tipping as: "The illegal dumping of liquid or solid waste on land or in water."

Any form of fly tipping is illegal and a penalty can be a £400 fixed penalty notice, an unlimited fine, or a custodial sentence if convicted in a magistrates court.

Under the Environmental Protection Act of 1990 putting rubbish out on a non-collective day or in the wrong place counts as fly tipping.

Items left outside a charity shop also falls under fly tipping, even if they are left with the intention of donating them.

Fly tipping has a financial impact on council taxpayers and diverts resources away from other essential services.

Discarding of rubbish in this way is unsightly for residents and visitors of the borough but also has damaging effects on the environment.

Fly tipping can be reported to the council HERE

The council has listed the ways you can reduce fly tipping in the borough:

1. When organising a company to collect your waste, make sure it is a licensed waste carrier

You can find one by calling the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 or visiting their website (http://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers).

2. Don't leave items outside of charity shops

Only donate when they are open and ensure they can accept your donations.

1. Use your kerbside recycling and rubbish collection service

Find out more on this here

1. Only put out bins and bags on your collection day

For collection dates, visit the Council website page

5. Use your Household Reuse and Recycling Centre

See the full list of recycling centres here.

1. Use your council's bulky waste collection service to get rid of large items

For more info on this visit https://www.kingston.gov.uk/Bulkywastecollections