Council buys covert cameras to catch fly-tippers
LDRSA council has bought covert cameras to trail suspected fly-tippers.
Gateshead Council said it had purchased "a small number" of the cameras but admitted they could not yet be used until the "legal complexities of directed surveillance have been overcome".
It comes after the local authority deployed 10 overt CCTV cameras, equipped with automatic number plate registration, in fly-tipping hotspots across Gateshead.
The council said the cameras were already identifying fly-tippers as it investigated 73 alleged illegal dumping cases.
Two vehicles used to fly-tip had been found, forfeited and crushed, the council's report on environmental enforcement said.
The council said it was also looking at increasing fixed penalty notices for illegal rubbish dumping, following changes in legislation which had capped the maximum fines.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced earlier this year there would be a crackdown on suspected fly-tippers across the UK, with vehicles used to illegally dump waste being caught and "crushed".
Recently, Gateshead Council announced it had fined a landlord £400 after it was proved he had illegally dumped waste in a Bensham back lane.
The landlord was interviewed under caution and admitted to leaving the waste, created during the refurbishments of a property, in the back lane between Saltwell Street and Whitehall Road, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.