Satellite equipment will be used to try and reduce the 2,500 incidents of fly-tipping that have blighted Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen in the past year.

In the first initiative of its kind in Wales, Global Positioning System technology will be used to pinpoint fly-tipping hotspots, compile details of incidents and share intelligence across local authorities.

Fly-tipping Action Wales launched the scheme yesterday (Monday) and will use 53 GPS units in the nine local authorities that make up the Valleys Regional Park, which is one of the areas most affected by the problem.

Latest figures show that fly-tipping in Wales costs around £2.7 million to clean up each year, with the Welsh Government funding this pilot scheme in the Valleys Regional Park area.

In 2009/10 there were 1,560 incident of fly-tipping in Caerphilly county, 746 in Torfaen and 230 in Blaenau Gwent.

The GPS units are used in the same way as normal cameras but record the specific location of fly-tipping incidents, sending details to a special website, where they are placed on a map along with other details, such as what is dumped.

Gary Evans, Project Manager for Fly-tipping Action Wales in the Valleys Regional Park, said: “More than £25 million is being injected into The valleys to help maximise the area’s potential and we cannot sit back and let fly-tippers blight our towns, villages and beautiful landscapes."

Councillor John Hopkins, Blaenau Gwent council’s executive member for crime, disorder and safer communities said: “We are becoming more and more sophisticated in our operations to catch offenders out and this case should be a clear warning to anyone who thinks that fly-tipping is the cheap and easy option.”