EIGHT SALFORD FLY-TIPPERS CAUGHT OUT IN "CATCH THE CULPRIT" CLAMP-DOWN

Salix Homes organised its first ever Catch the Culprit Campaign, which aimed to identify the perpetrators blighting Salford’s communities with rubbish.

The organisation’s Environment Team spent a week identifying incidents of fly-tipping across the city, before taping off the illegally-dumped waste as a ‘crime scene’.

The team then searched through the mountains of rubbish, which included old sofas, mattresses and bin bags of waste, to identify any clues, which could lead to tracking down the culprit.

One person was identified from a discarded medicine bottle, while others were caught-out from post and letters which revealed their names and addresses.

Liam Turner, Environmental Services manager at Salix Homes, said:

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“Fly-tipping has become a huge issue in Salford and while responsibility for the removal of this illegally dumped waste lies with the council, the scale of the problem is putting additional pressures on other public services, like ourselves, and diverting resources and funding away from other areas.

“We know it’s only a small minority, but there is no excuse for this lazy and selfish crime. We want our communities to be safe, clean and green places to live, so we launched Catch the Culprit to raise awareness of this crime and encourage people to take more pride in where they live.

“There are often clues to be found amongst the rubbish, no matter how small, that can lead to the identification of the culprit. We hope the success of this campaign will serve as a stark warning that if you’re dumping rubbish in our communities, we will do everything in our power to track you down and you will be held to account.”

 

All the perpetrators that were caught-out during the clampdown were identified as Salix Homes tenants and were handed tenancy warnings. One of the culprits removed the dumped waste themselves, while the others were charged for the removal costs.

The campaign took place during Salix Homes’ Love Your Neighbourhood Week when events are held throughout the week, which aim to encourage people to love where they live.

Throughout the week almost three tonnes of fly-tipped waste was removed from streets, alleyways and green areas, at a cost of more than £500.

Thanks to the success of the campaign, Salix Homes, which owns more than 8,000 homes across Salford, will be rolling it out regularly in a bid to clamp-down on fly-tippers.