Local UK Authorities Encouraged To Seize And Crush Cars & Trucks Used By People Illegally Dumping Trash ("Fly-Tipping")

[hatrack]

Councils will be encouraged to work with police forces to seize and crush vehicles used by fly-tippers, in the latest phase of a government policy blitz before Thursday’s local elections. Under a scheme being led by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), new legislation will impose jail sentences of up to five years for people who illicitly transport waste in England.

Fly-tipping, in which people illegally dump rubbish or debris, often by roadsides, rather than taking it to a proper waste site, is commonly listed by voters as a local concern. Government statistics for England recorded 1.15m incidents in 2023-24, up 6% from a year before.

While councils already have the powers to seize and crush vehicles used in fly-tipping, Defra said administrative hurdles mean this is rarely done, with the bulk of such action last year taking place under just two councils.

EDIT

As well as working with councils to make this easier, local authorities will also be able to charge fly-tippers for the cost of seizing and storing any vehicles. Police will be encouraged to help identify vehicles being used with drones and mobile CCTV cameras.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/29/fly-tippers-vehicles-to-be-crushed-in-bid-to-save-england-from-avalanche-of-rubbish

[k_buddy762]

1. I wish they would do this in the US

I support this fully. Punks dump all manner of trash all over the place in my beloved state. The landscape is too beautiful (and has to delicate an ecosystem) to support couches, TVs, toys, refuse, household goods trash, chemical waste.... All sorts of stuff gets dumped in the middle of nowhere (and sometimes right along major roads) where I live.