MUCH of the litter befouling our Suffolk landscape is likely to have been dumped there by businesses.That is the verdict from Suffolk Coastal's councillor Chris Slemmings – who is keen to back the Evening Star's new campaign to get fly-tippers prosecuted.

MUCH of the litter befouling our Suffolk landscape is likely to have been dumped there by businesses.

That is the verdict from Suffolk Coastal's councillor Chris Slemmings – who is keen to back the Evening Star's new campaign to get fly-tippers prosecuted.

Suffolk Coastal is home to some of the county's most picturesque spots, but it is in these quiet, country locations that fly-tippers often dump their rubbish.

The hotspots are those areas that once used to be main roads - such as the old A45 and the Brightwell Road.

Suffolk Coastal alone spends tens of thousands of pounds a year clearing up fly-tipping rubbish.

Cllr Slemmings, cabinet member for the environment for Suffolk Coastal, said: "The problem in Suffolk Coastal is, in part, that it is mainly rural so there are lots of possibilities for people to drive out a little and get to secluded country areas in the dead of night.

"The people that are doing it are being very, very unfair on their neighbours, especially as council tax has to be used to clear it up."

But a lot of the rubbish dumped is trade waste.

This is perhaps because the civic amenity sites do not accept trade waste – and have height barriers in place to stop vans entering.

Cllr Slemmings said: "The most common thing we find dumped is business-sized quantities of garden or agricultural waste.

"We sometimes see verges filled with 40 or so rubbish bags. We have even found unmarked drums of liquid or powder.

"One such drum was filled with rubber granules that are used to make hard surface tennis courts.

"We often find car parts and engine bits on the edge of fields.

"It is doubly bad because it is often dumped on private land and in ditches – which are there to help the environment."

According to Cllr Slemmings, the main reason businesses dump their rubbish is to avoid paying skip or landfill site charges.

He said: "I think people are trying to avoid paying the disposal fee and I don't think people want to go through the bureaucracy needed to put things in landfill sites.

"But it is only going to get worse with new directives coming from the European Union on how we must dispose of cars or bio-waste or electrical goods."

Cllr Slemmings is now hoping that the Star's campaign to Dump the Dumpers will help to clear up the county.

He said: "We are quite happy to support the Evening Star's campaign and where we can track the people down, we are quite happy to prosecute."

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