Harborough District Council's drive to slash fly-tipping across Harborough is in the running to win a national award

Harborough District Council's drive to slash fly-tipping across Harborough is in the running to win a national award.

The initiative has cut tipping in the district and led to a string of prosecutions and fines for offenders.

Now Harborough District Council’s Tip Off campaign has been nominated at the National Recycling Awards 2020 in two categories - ‘Campaign of the Year’ and 'Local Authority Success'.

The National Recycling Awards celebrate those making a difference in the recycling and waste management industry.

The winners will be announced on December 15 at the London Hilton hotel on Park Lane.

Tip Off was launched in 2016 when the council ‘dumped’ just a few days’ of fly-tipping rubbish in outstanding Welland Park.

Councillors aimed to show how much waste is being dumped illegally and to encourage people to support the Tip Off scheme.

People rallied to the cause and started to report many more fly-tipping incidents.

Tip Off was relaunched last year to remind residents and businesses they are waste produced on their property and how it is disposed of.

It urged people to check that anyone removing waste from their property held a valid waste carriers’ licence.

And last November the authority said incidents of fly-tipping had plunged by over a quarter compared to the same period in 2018.

That’s the biggest fall since council records began.

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, Harborough District Council’s cabinet lead for regulatory services, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award.

“We have a fantastic team whose tenacity for investigating fly-tipping across the district has been rewarded with an unprecedented level of success over the year in reducing incidents and catching those people breaking the law.”

Earlier this week the council said they had caught a fly-tipper on CCTV just days after launching banners on their refuse collection vehicles which warn: “Fly-tippers beware – we are watching you.”

Harborough council uses covert CCTV cameras in hotspots and patrols the district daily in its environmental crime vehicle.

The authority also works with residents, parish councils and police to gain intelligence on how and where fly-tippers are operating.

“This campaign would not have been as successful as it has been if it wasn’t for the support of the public, who are our eyes and ears in the community,” added Cllr Bateman.

“We thank them for their continued support in helping tackle this blight on our beautiful district.”

Report fly-tipping, or find out more about Tip Off at www.harborough.gov.uk/tipoff