Major crackdown on fly tipping launched in Horsham

And a stern warning is going out to householders in the district who employ waste firms to remove their rubbish that they need to employ reputable companies.

Fly tipping is a spreading menace around the district with an increasing number of country lanes illegally littered in debris.

In an awareness-raising campaign in Horsham’s Carfax this morning Horsham council cabinet member for waste and recycling Philip Circus said: “People don’t realise they are responsible for the disposal of their waste.

“If we can get people to only use a reputable waste disposal company - people with a waste carrier licence - we can put the fly tippers out of business.”

Councillor Circus - who campaigned against the restriction of opening hours at the town’s waste tip when it was introduced two years ago - said he was working on an ‘enforcement protocol’ which he planned to present to the council cabinet in November.

He said he was determined to ensure the council had ‘watertight procedures’ which would enable ”vigorous enforcement action in respect of all environmental crime.”

He added: “I am determined that we will ratchet up enforcement action against both flytippers and householders who don’t behave responsibly in respect of disposal of their waste.”

Warnings about increases in flytipping were first sounded when West Sussex County Council announced plans in 2016 to close Horsham’s tip at Hop Oast, and one at Billingshurst, for two days a week in a bid to save money.