The Welsh Government last week announced annual fly-tipping statistics - revealing that Powys is amongst the best-performing local authorities in Wales for issuing fixed-penalty notices in a bid to combat fly-tipping.

Achieving a 130 per cent increase on last year’s figure with 69 fixed penalty notices issued, Powys County Council has demonstrated further strides to tackle fly-tipping in the last year.

Cardiff (565) and Swansea (47) are also among the best-performing local authorities for issuing fixed penalty notices in the fight against fly-tipping.

The 2021-22 report, which analyses incidents recorded by local authorities between April 1 2021 and March 31 2022, also revealed that, a total of 966 waste enforcement actions (including prosecutions and fixed penalty notices) were recorded in Wales.

To tackle fly-tipping across the nation and decrease incidents in Powys, Fly-tipping Action Wales is calling on Powys residents to ensure that they are disposing of their excess household rubbish and garden waste responsibly.

Neil Harrison, team leader for Fly-tipping Action Wales, said: “It’s reassuring to see that Powys is amongst the top local authorities in Wales for issuing the highest number of fixed penalty notices, demonstrating the council’s on-going commitment to clamp down on this crime.

“In Wales, it remains the case that around two thirds of all fly-tipping incidents contain waste from households, which is why we are urging residents to protect themselves from unregistered waste carriers and asking them to always check with Natural Resources Wales that the person they use to remove any excess rubbish from their home is a registered waste carrier.”

Cllr Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys, said: “As the largest and one of the most rural Welsh local authorities, detecting, clearing and investigating incidents of fly-tipping can be challenging here in Powys.

“However, we proactively run and support behaviour change campaigns alongside education and prevention work which has helped to reduce the number of fly-tipping cases in the county in recent years.

“When they do occur, our hard-working enforcement team are committed to investigating every occurrence of fly-tipping thoroughly, and where possible, issuing fixed penalty notices to those responsible. This is no mean feat when faced with such a large geographical area, but it’s worth the effort to keep our beautiful county clean.”

Fly-tipping is a serious crime. It causes considerable damage to the environment, the economy and local communities — with the consequences being up to a £50,000 fine or imprisonment for the offender.

When arranging the removal of household waste, people in Wales are required to check with Natural Resources Wales that the person or company they are using are a registered waste carrier by visiting naturalresources.wales/checkwastev or calling 03000 653000. Failure to make these appropriate checks could result in a £300 fixed penalty notice if the waste is fly-tipped.