DESPITE the Isle of Wight suffering 565 incidents of flytipping in a year, no Fixed Penalty Notices were issued by the council.

In the year from April 2019 to March 2020 — before the Covid pandemic — the Isle of Wight Council was among a number of local authorities that failed to issue any fines.

In contrast, 71.88 per cent of flytipping incidents in Islington resulted in FPNs, the most proactive area, but zero per cent did on the Island.

The County Press asked the council why this was the case, and if other methods were being used to fight the scourge instead.

An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said: “The council will investigate reports of flytipping and take action in line with the council’s neighbourhoods enforcement policy where evidence supports such action.

"Enforcement action could include a number of actions and not just fixed penalty notices. Finding the culprits who fly tip can be notoriously difficult and often there is a lack of evidence.

"It is a criminal offence to flytip and if you are seeking someone else to dispose of your waste you must use a licensed waste carrier.”

We went back to the council and pressed them on what the 'number of actions' included.

They responded that the council had undertaken 31 'investigation actions' and sent 11 warning letters, out of the 565 incidents.

The figures came to light through an online mortgage company, which investigated which regions of England were doing the most when it came to flytipping fines, as well as revealing the worst areas for flytipping.

It sourced the Government official fly-tipping incidents and actions 2019/20 data and focused on the percentage of incidents resulting in FPNs specifically for flytipping.

Out of the total 975,631 reported incidents of fly tipping in England, 13,416 resulted in a FPN. That equates to 1.38 per cent.

The worst area in England for fly-tipping was Camden in London with 34,465 reported incidents in 2019/20 alone. Out of those incidents, only 93 resulted in FPNs issued.

The Island was 251st in a list of 316 areas.

Isle of Wight County Press:

The full report is at https://www.onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk/blog/the-areas-issuing-the-most-fly-tipping-fines-in-england/