Council hopes seafront cameras will spot fly-tippers

A pilot scheme to use cameras to catch fly-tippers in the act is due to be rolled out in a city.

Southend-on-Sea City Council faced criticism after it was revealed that no fixed penalty notices were issued for fly-tipping between April 2021 and March 2022 – despite 1,961 incidents.

But, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Lydia Hyde - a Labour councillor responsible for climate, environment and waste - said: "We’ve got seven cameras going in that will be operational in December that will be in our hottest spots.

"If we can get that right we can roll it out. They are going to initially focus on hotspots around the seafront."

At a council meeting on Thursday, Hyde said: "There’s some extra work that’s gone into this over the summer, because what’s absolutely crucial is getting good evidence in order to prosecute.

"If we don’t set that up right, then the council could fail on [a court] appeal, and you can end up paying out more."

At the meeting, David Webb, a city resident, told councillors: “When I report fly tipping it's just collected - but not checked for evidence in bags."

In response, Hyde said a "key aspect" was "improving the quality of our evidence".

She added: "Specifically, it must show that the person receiving the fine was the perpetrator beyond reasonable doubt.

"Therefore, I have been working with our waste team and contractors to pilot the use of cameras in hot spots for this purpose."

Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.