FLY-TIPPERS will be fined £400 if caught in Blaenau Gwent as the council looks to crack down on the rising number of incidents in the county borough.

In 2016/17 the authority received 845 reports of fly-tipping, up by 17 per cent from the 723 recorded in the previous year.

In the same period councils across Wales dealt with 38,614 cases, with taxpayers footing the £2.1 million clean-up bill.

The council have adopted new powers afforded to them by the Unauthorised Deposit of Waste (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2017.

The rules allow waste collection officers to issue fixed penalty notices of between £150 and £400 to anyone caught illegally dumping waste.

And at a meeting on Wednesday, cabinet members opted to charge the maximum £400, which would be reduced to £350 if the fine is paid within 10 days.

Court action will follow if the fine is not paid within 14 days.

The fines will come into effect from April 1, and will only apply to first-time offenders dumping non-hazardous waste.

Charges would be for fly-tippers found with eight black bags of waste - or up to a car boot load - or for one or two larger items.

The council hope the fines will help them avoid "time consuming" court cases, having successfully made 77 convictions between 2007 and 2017.

According to a cabinet report, Blaenau Gwent has one of the best detection records regarding fly-tipping, but describes detection rates across all council areas as low compared to the number of incidents.

Reasons include difficulties in establishing who is responsible for fly tipped rubbish, and a reluctance among witnesses to give evidence in court.

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Garth Collier, executive member for the environment, said: “Fly-tipping blights our communities, and costs millions across Wales to clean up.

"Court cases can be lengthy and use up a lot of time and resources so I am pleased that colleagues on the executive have approved these new powers to enable offenders to be dealt with quickly and effectively.

“Our residents are continually telling us that a clean living environment is important to them and it is one of this Council’s priorities going forward, so I welcome this new legislation and would like to remind anyone that if they have any information about fly-tipping to please get in touch.”