Wigan councillor calls for CCTV to tackle fly-tipping

Coun John Vickers, Labour councillor for Hindley Green, has put in a request to council officers for CCTV to be put up on Coupland Road.

His calls come after he reported five incidents of fly-tipping in the last two weeks with four of the incidents in the last week.

Coun Vickers said people who live in the Coupland Road area are “sick and tired” of “inconsiderate” people who drive to the location and dump whatever they want.

He said: “The residents of the area have had enough and want something done. In the last two weeks alone I have had to report five instances of fly tipping, four in the last week.

“We believe that suitably located cameras would be able to identify the culprits and provide evidence for further action.

“The people who live in this area are proud of where they live, some residents even get together to do litter picks on Coupland Road and surrounding streets to keep it clean and tidy.

He added: “The actions of a small number of inconsiderate people are spoiling the area and in some instances creating a health hazard with the stuff they are dumping.”

Dave Lyon, assistant director of environment at Wigan Council, described fly-tipping as a “blight on the environment”.

Mr Lyon said the council has put money in for extra CCTV cameras to be used in hotspots.

He said: “Fly-tipping is a blight on the environment and costs taxpayer money to clean up.

“If anybody has any evidence relating to fly-tipping instances, including vehicle registrations or names and addresses of the perpetrators, we encourage residents to contact us so we can investigate, with a view to appropriate enforcement on any individual identified individual.

“We have recently invested more additional covert CCTV cameras and equipment that can be deployed to fly tipping hot spots to identify the individuals responsible.

He added: “We will always work with local councillors and residents to combat this unacceptable criminal behaviour, to ensure our borough is kept clean and tidy for all to enjoy.”