Scourge of fly tipping in Portadown 'must be addressed' after latest 'disgusting' pile of rubbish dumped

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart said: “The small minority of people who engage in fly tipping must be identified and made to pay the penalty for the mess made in local areas.

The DUP MP made the call after requesting a clean up of rubbish dumped at Queen Street Garages in Portadown.

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Mrs Lockhart said: “No one has the right to discard and dump their rubbish where they like. Sadly, on an all too regular basis, I am taking calls from people who have had fly tipping occur in their neighbourhood or on their road.

"This is a disgusting, a disgraceful act. It poses a range of health and safety hazards, and goes against the community spirit and the pride many have in keeping their community clean and tidy.

"This week a significant amount of rubbish was dumped at Queen Street Garages in Portadown. All sorts of items were in the rubbish. It was disgusting. Thankfully, the culprit left some information that allows their identification and they will face a proportionate penalty.

"My thanks go to the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council staff for their swift and thorough cleansing of this area. We need fly tipping to stop. It costs the ratepayer money to get this cleared up. We also need the full investigation of each incident, and penalty notices to be followed through in each instance.”

A spokesperson for the council said: “In this case, council officers have cleared the rubbish and discovered identification within the waste, which will be followed up with an investigation. Council currently carry out inspections across the borough every day for this type of littering. Since April 2022, a total of 49 Fixed Penalty fines have been issued for such litter offences, and further cases are currently under investigation.

"If you witness an incident of any type of littering, please pass on the information to the Council’s Environmental Health Department on 0300 0300 900. By providing information such as a vehicle description, registration number along with a location, date and time, an investigation can then be carried out. You can also report littering through the ABC app which can be found on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

"Council would also urge people to continue to use the Recycling Centres to dispose of any excess waste. Details of what items are accepted at the centres and their opening hours can be found here: www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk/resident/recycling-centres”