Staffordshire Moorlands District Councillors have voted to double the price of fines handed out to fly-tippers amid a "growing problem" of waste being dumped at local beauty spots.

The decision was made by the council's Cabinet at a meeting earlier today (Tuesday).

Councils can currently set their fines for fly tippers at any level between £150 - £400.

Prior to this decision, the fine in the Moorlands was set at £200. However, councillors today voted to double the fine, by setting it at the maximum level of £400.

Introducing the discussion, Cllr Sav Scalise said: "Hopefully this will give people the extra motivation to take their rubbish to the tip instead of dumping it in lay-bys, because I think the problem is growing."

The motion was strongly supported by Cllr Mark Deaville, who said: "I wholeheartedly support this. We are dealing with people who dare to fly tip in our beautiful district, so I support the increase in penalties.

"Over Christmas I witnessed over 100 scrap tyres dumped in one of the most beautiful parts of the Moorlands - fly tipping brings out the worst of society, and people who do this don't deserve to live in this beautiful area."

Cllr Scalise also warned that fines could be unlimited if the offence was on a large enough scale for the council to take the perpetrator to court.

He added: "This penalty is only for two or three bags of rubbish - if we have bigger fly tips we can take them to court, and then the fine can be unlimited."

Cllr Joe Porter also offered his support, saying: "Over the pandemic more people have been enjoying green spaces for their mental health, but unfortunately a minority of people haven't been caring for those green spaces, and there is a spotlight on this more than ever before. I think increasing the fine is vital in addressing this issue."

If you would like to watch the meeting in full, click here.

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