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Residents asked to help track down fly-tippers

Nadia Lincoln,Local Democracy Reporting Serviceand
Louise Parry
Nadia Lincoln/LDRS A close up shot of a wire fence, with a white poster strapped on. It says "Fly-tipping is a criminal offence. Illegal dumping can result in a £1000 on-the-spot fine. www.westnorthants.gov.uk/waste". There is another yellow poster warning people that CCTV is in operation.Nadia Lincoln/LDRS
In the year to June 2026, West Northamptonshire Council recorded 62 fly-tipping incidents a day on average

Residents are being asked to help a council catch criminals who fly-tip rubbish in an area "blighted" by the problem.

West Northamptonshire Council recorded 22,769 incidents of fly-tipping in the past year, compared with about 17,000 in the 2023-24 period.

This was a slight improvement on the 2024-25 period, when waste was illegally dumped 22,923 times.

"Residents can play a crucial part in helping us bring offenders to justice by sharing with us any footage from doorbell cameras, CCTV or dashcams that might help identify them," a council spokesperson said.

Figures shared with the Local Democracy Reporting Service showed that the worst five streets in the whole area were all in Northampton town centre.

The five wards with the highest number of incidents were also within the town, with 4,178 in Castle ward alone.

This was followed by Talavera and Abington wards, with 2,966 and 1,377 reports respectively.

The council said the streets with the highest number of fly-tipping reports from July 2025 to the end of June 2026 were:

  • Alcombe Road – 219
  • Billing Brook Road - 186
  • Lea Road – 154
  • Great Meadow – 135
  • St Edmund's Road – 122
Nadia Lincoln/LDRS A grey mattress is dumped on the pavement, leaning against a wooden fence which leads to a large and run-down urban house on a terraced street.Nadia Lincoln/LDRS
St Edmund's Road in Northampton had 122 reported incidents of fly-tipping last year

A West Northamptonshire Council spokesperson said that tackling "this blight in our community" was a priority, and that enforcement action would be taken where there was sufficient evidence.

They said: "Fly-tipping is totally unacceptable, a huge problem for all councils, and we fully understand the impact it has on our residents.

"With sufficient evidence we will always take action against offenders, who can face heavy fines or be taken to court.

"We use a range of methods to investigate, including camera surveillance, but we won't discuss specific locations as this could affect ongoing investigations."

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