• Waste criminals, fly-tippers and cowboy waste operators to have vehicles seized and crushed
• New technology such as drones and mobile CCTV will used to identify fly-tip vehicles
• Waste cowboys face up to five years in prison under new legislation

A new crackdown on cowboy waste operators will tackle soaring fly-tipping and clean up Britain’s streets, lanes and rural areas, the Government has announced.

Councils will work with the police to identify, seize and crush vehicles of waste criminals. Drones and mobile CCTV cameras will be deployed to identify cars and vans belonging to fly-tippers so they can be destroyed.

Ministers have launched a rapid review to slash red tape blocking councils from seizing and crushing vehicles. Councils currently have to bear the significant cost of seizing and storing vehicles but under new plans fly-tippers will cover this cost, saving councils and taxpayers money.

In addition, waste cowboys will now face up to five years in prison for operating illegally. Any criminals caught transporting and dealing with waste illegally will now face up to five years in prison under new legislation.

The Environment Agency will also carry out identity and criminal record checks on operators in the sector so there is nowhere to hide for rogue firms.

It will be handed more resources as they will now be able to fund the cost of policing the industry through permits, boosting their powers and cutting costs for taxpayers. The reforms will also give them more power to revoke permits, issue enforcement notices and hefty fines.

Waste crime is trashing communities across the country. Fly-tipping has skyrocketed by a fifth whilst the number of prosecutions has fallen by the same amount since 2018/19. The failure to punish these criminals has left our high streets, roads and countryside buried under an avalanche of rubbish.

Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed said:

“Waste criminals and fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages have gone unpunished for too long.

“That ends today. The Government is calling time on fly-tipping. I will not stand by while this avalanche of rubbish buries our communities.

“Under the Plan for Change, this Government will seize and crush fly-tippers vans’ to clean up Britain’s streets.”

These measures support the Government’s Plan for Change and will help deliver its key mission of Safer Streets for the public, restoring communities’ faith in efforts to combat anti-social behaviour.

Michelle Scrogham, Labour Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness said:

“This is a huge issue for us locally and I have been campaigning hard for action to clean up our streets and rural lanes. These new powers for the local authority will help clamp down on the problem and will be particularly helpful in tackling the recent spate of fly tipping along our A roads and the coast road.

“Fly-tipping is a major problem and has been ignored for too long by people who just don’t care. Residents are sick of our streets being plagued by discarded rubbish and waste left by a thoughtless minority. I pay tribute to our community litter picking groups who spend huge amounts of their own time to try and help sort out this problem. We need the efforts of individuals and local groups to be backed by better enforcement and I call on the council to make full use of the powers available to them to clamp down on fly tippers and others who litter our streets.”