A SCOURGE of flytipping including the dumping of deadly asbestos and the tarnishing of beauty spots has led to the dishing out of £100 fines to offenders.

Colchester Council has released a series of pictures illustrating the devastation caused by the careless - and illegal - dumping of rubbish.

The authority said cases of littering and flytipping have been on the rise in lockdown, with a “real risk” of town centres becoming swamped with waste.

The council gave examples of nine £100 fines handed out for flytipping over the past few weeks.

These cases including the dumping of cardboard packaging in a layby off the A12, bags and packaging around recycling banks in High Street, Mersea, and sheets of asbestos in Shrub End Road.

Martin Goss, councillor responsible for waste and environment, said several fines had been handed out to offenders, with perpetrators identified through items left behind in their rubbish.

He said: “It is unacceptable that people’s enjoyment of our town is spoilt by those who see fit to clutter the pavements with their litter and discarded food.

“We are not going to let up putting pressure on those who blight our town through littering.

“One of our key priority is to keep our borough clean and an attractive place to live and visit.”

Halstead Gazette:

  • Examples of some of the flytipping across Colchester

He added: “The vast majority of people work with us and dispose of their litter responsibly.

“However, if people insist on throwing their litter in the streets, or from vehicles, then we will act.

Halstead Gazette:

  • Examples of some of the flytipping across Colchester

“Key workers deserve our thanks and support for the work they have been doing whilst we stayed home, and now we ask that you show them your gratitude by doing your bit.”

Halstead Gazette:

  • Examples of some of the flytipping across Colchester

One image, captured in Parsonage Hill, Boxted, shows flytipped asbestos.

Another shows overflowing bags of litter left behind in Dedham, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty made famous by landscape artist John Constable, over the weekend.

Halstead Gazette:

  • Examples of some of the flytipping across Colchester

A council spokesman added: “Enforcement patrols will be carried out in this location going forward now as a result and £100 littering offence fixed penalty notices will be issued as and when people are identified on the spot.

“The picture was taken in Dedham at 9.30am on Sunday, council operatives had cleared all Dedham bins the day before on Saturday.”

The council is calling on everyone to do their bit to keep Colchester borough clean, by bagging up and taking litter home and putting it in the bin.

The authority is using the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, which asks people to ‘walk your rubbish home’ and ‘exercise compassion’.

The council will also provide parish councils with resource packs to ensure the message is spread across the borough.