South Norfolk is winning the war on fly-tipping

South Norfolk Council is winning the war on fly-tipping - that's the message from Government officials.

Inspectors from the rural affairs department DEFRA have said the council's performance in tackling this environmental crime is now among the best in the country.

And they have given the council the top score of 1 out of 4, where 1 represents "very effective performance" and 4 represents "poor performance".

It is the highest score any council can achieve and a dramatic turnaround from 2006, when the council was last inspected and was given the lowest performance marking of 4.

The top score follows the council's tough and high profile campaign against environmental crime.

It is cleaning up a beautiful area of Norfolk, plagued for years by criminal gangs and individuals using its beauty spots to dump everything from fridges and furniture to tyres and even pianos.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor David Bills said:

"We make no apologies for our tough overall approach which has also won us friends and supporters, including South Norfolk resident, author and Campaign to Protect Rural England President Bill Bryson.

"The majority of people do not like fly-tipping and back us all the way.

"It is of note that fly-tipping is a crime and as such anyone caught performing this will be taken to court to face the music.

"We have set up an Environmental Crime Team on freephone 0808 168 2999 to get action fast, and we are going after the fly-tippers.

"We are squeezing them and will continue to pile on the pressure so as long as they ply their criminal trade in our beautiful backyard, we will be there ready to act."

The council's success follows a campaign of four main elements:

- making the environment the council's top priority including raising the profile of its war on environmental crimes like fly-tipping in the media;

- creating a new Environmental Crimes Team with a dedicated freephone number so that people can more easily report in a fly-tip incident and have it dealt with quickly and effectively;

- creating a new in-house street cleaning service with more staff and equipment giving the council direct control, responsibility and accountability for its performance;

- launching a high profile advertising campaign, using stark images of fly-tipping and littering on the sides of the council's bin lorries which cover every street and home in the district, week in and week out;

News of the council's top performance rating came in a letter from DEFRA advising that it was officially rating the council with a score of '1' following analysis of data submitted using a nationally used and accepted "Flycapture" reporting system.

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