DAY 20: Wokingham continue to tackle fly-tipping

Thames Valley Police, West Berkshire and Wokingham Trading Standards and Wokingham Borough Council are reminding residents how to make sure garden and household waste is disposed of correctly. This is due to rubbish such as sofas, mattresses, builder’s bags, asbestos and car parts being fly-tipped around the rural parts of the area.

Between April and July this year, 170 incidents of fly-tipping were recorded by the Wokingham Borough Council. Although this is too many for a four month period, it has fallen from 223 incidents recorded in 2012. Shinfield, Swallowfield and Hurst are the parishes/towns most affected.

The law states if you have rubbish taken away from your house, you still have a duty of care to ensure that the rubbish is disposed of legally. This means that if someone takes away your rubbish and fly-tips it on the side or the middle of a road, you could be prosecuted. You will have more than likely paid the perpetrator for the pleasure of appearing in court!

Their top tips to prevent fly tipping follow are:

·         Ask where rubbish is being taken

·         Ask for a receipt on headed paper

·         Obtain an estimate on headed paper giving details of waste disposal

·         Check the trader has a valid waste carriers licence. This can be checked online at www.environment-agency.gov.uk or by calling the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506.

The potential dangers of fly-tipping are something that residents and landowners should be aware of. As well as spoiling the look of our lovely landscapes, fly-tipping can cause serious pollution, puts wildlife in danger and could cause harm to people who walk around the countryside. Areas can also be set alight by large electrical items or waste tyres and large piles of rubbish can attract arsonists. Not to mention that cleaning it all up is extremely time consuming and expensive (usually for the taxpayer!).

Read more about West Berkshire and Wokingham Environmental Health by visiting their website.

Info about preventing fly-tipping on private land can be found on the Country Watch page of the Thames Valley Police website.

DAY 18: High visibility patrols in Windsor to prevent illegal fishing and poaching



The team in Windsor aimed to tackle wildlife crimes like illegal fishing and poaching in a two-phase enforcement operation with the Environment Agency which ran from 4pm until 3am last Friday night (31/8).

Phase one: 4pm – 8pm

Officers and PCSOs worked with the Environment Agency officers patrolling the Jubilee River and a number of lakes in and around the Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury areas. They were on the lookout for signs of illegal fishing along the waterways.

The exercise was productive with a number of people being stopped and spoken to letting them know about the work the team were doing. In addition to this, three people were reported by the Environment Agency for illegal fishing and six more were given advice by the Agency for the same offence.

An illegal crayfish net was also found in the lake owned by Wraysbury Dive Centre. This was seized by the Environment Agency not least because of the danger it posed to the divers!

Windsor team: officers, PCSOs and the Environment Agency

Phase two: 7pm – 3am

The Windsor police officers, Great Park Wardens and local farmers ran a proactive operation targeting trespass and poaching. The team also targeted vehicles carrying plant machinery as well as HGVs and vans with the aim of finding people linked to rural crime.

From 7pm until 10pm two officers from the mounted section (that’s the horses to you and me!), did a high-visibility patrol on the Great Park. They worked alongside the wardens patrolling the main areas where poaching, hunting and anti-social behaviour occurs.

Around 10 vehicles and up to 15 people were stopped however no arrests were made, no stolen property was found but no rural crime was reported either!



Mounted section patrol with the park wardens as it's getting dark

DAY 16: Environment Agency and Datatag on hand for joint ANPR op in Wokingham



An artic lorry coming in for inspection

Last Friday (30/8), the Wokingham team worked with Datatag, VOSA and the Environment Agency to pull over larger trucks and lorries and check them out, particularly those carrying scrap metal or waste and plant machinery or farming equipment.

Throughout the day, the team pulled over just short of 100 vehicles. The Environment Agency used the opportunity to promote licensing around what scrap metal dealer vehicles can and can’t carry, while Datatag used their specialist knowledge to identify any potentially stolen machinery or plant. No stolen property was found and all waste transport was found to be in order.



Datatag checking over a digger to make sure it wasn't stolen property. All was in order!



VOSA issued rectification notices for roadworthiness, in particular for suspension problems and worn down tyres, and one vehicle was given an immediate prohibition notice keeping it off the road until it is fixed and up to the legal spec.

Inspector Greg Elphick said: “It’s been a busy day but we met a fairly law abiding bunch.

“It’s been great networking with the other agencies for the next time we run one of these operations.”

The team working at the ANPR site

 

A waste disposal lorry was checked and found to be in order