Cheltenham Borough Council is teaming up with Keep Britain Tidy for ‘Fight Fly-Tipping Fortnight’, a new campaign to crack down on rogue ‘white van’ operators and help local residents protect themselves and their communities from the growing scourge of waste crime.
Fly-tipping costs councils across England millions of pounds every year in clean-up costs, draining money that could otherwise be spent on essential local services. It is estimated there are well over 1 million incidents a year across the country costing local authorities and ultimately local taxpayers between £100m and £150m to clear up. Around 40% of fly tipping is carried out by rogue traders. This could pay for other essential services such as housing, parks and public spaces and waste and recycling.
The campaign calls on people in Cheltenham to protect themselves and their communities from falling for a #RubbishDeal – low-cost, unlicensed services offered on social media by organised waste criminals. Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight aims to shine a spotlight on rogue operators, who lure people in with cheap deals, only to illegally dump household waste on streets, fields and public spaces.
Cheltenham Borough Council is supporting Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight by helping raise awareness and calling on households to take three simple steps to avoid a #RubbishDeal:
- Ask for a waste carrier registration number.
- Check it on the Environment Agency’s public register at https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers or call 0300 065 3000).
- Check you’ll get a receipt.
“We wholeheartedly support this campaign by Keep Britain Tidy. Fly-tipping is clearly a national problem which has a real impact in Cheltenham and across Gloucestershire. It is a blight on our town and the surrounding countryside and is a deep source of frustration with everything from mattresses, furniture and building waste being illegally dumped. This costs taxpayers thousands in clear-up costs – money that could otherwise be spent on other essential local services.
Our teams work tirelessly to tackle the problem, but we need our community’s help to stop it at the source. We’re asking people to check who they pay to take rubbish away. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is – and sadly it’s our residents and communities who ultimately pay the price.”
– Cllr Paul Baker, Cabinet Member for Waste, Recycling, Parks, Gardens and Green Open Space
“Councils are on the frontline of the fight against fly-tipping, responding day in, day out to clear dumped waste and keep our public spaces safe and clean. We know how much pressure this puts on already stretched local teams and we’re incredibly grateful to Cheltenham Borough Council for joining forces with us for Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight.
This campaign is about empowering residents to play their part in tackling this growing issue. By making simple checks before handing over waste and always getting a receipt, people can protect themselves from rogue traders, stop organised criminal networks in their tracks and help ensure public money is spent where it’s needed most.”
– Dr. Anna Scott, Director of Services at Keep Britain Tidy
Fight Fly-tipping Fortnight will run until the 23rd November 2025, with local authorities across the country joining forces with Keep Britain Tidy to highlight the scale and impact of fly-tipping, educate residents on how to protect themselves and their communities.
For more information, visit www.keepbritaintidy.org
To report fly–tipping incidents, visit our website.
For media enquiries contact: communications telephone 01242 264154, email communications@cheltenham.gov.uk
Notes to Editors
About Keep Britain Tidy
- Keep Britain Tidy is a leading environmental charity. We set the standard for the management of parks and beaches, inspire people to be litter-free, to waste less and live more sustainably. We run campaigns and programmes including the Great British Spring Clean, Eco-Schools, Love Parks Week, Buy Nothing New Month, Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag/ Seaside Awards for beaches. To find out more about Keep Britain Tidy, our campaigns and programmes visit www.keepbritaintidy.org.
