Fly Tipping and Dumped Rubbish

Fly tipping is "the illegal/unlawful deposit of any waste onto land with no licence to accept waste".

It includes anything from general household waste to fridges, sofas, mattresses, garden waste, rubble and tyres.

In order to be classified as fly tipping the amount of waste should be greater than three normal refuse sacks or items that would not normally be collected via the usual refuse collection service.

It is an offence to fly tip any material; fines can be up to £50,000 or 12 months imprisonment (or both) if convicted in a magistrates' court. Islington’s waste enforcement team regularly prosecute fly tippers.

Islington removes any fly tipped waste, except from private land. Between April 2002 and March 2003 we removed over 6,000 fly tips. Our policy is to remove fly tipped waste within 24 hours of notification. 

If You Discover a Fly Tip

• visually inspect the site, but do not touch it
• do not disturb the site
• do not ignore it – report it!

The sooner these incidents are reported the sooner they can be investigated or removed.

If You See Someone Fly Tipping

We will try to identify anyone fly tipping in order to prosecute them. Any information you can collect is therefore important to us.

If possible, you should write down any details as soon as possible, using the guidance below. You may also be asked to make a statement, so record the following details:

• day, date, time including the time tipping stops
• who was with you
• what you saw
• description of fly tippers
• what you saw them do
• description of the vehicle used especially the registration number, colour, make and model
• where were you and what kind of view did you have
• how far away were you
• what was the weather like
• description of the waste tipped - quantity, appearance, loose/bagged or drummed
• if you can, take photographs (without being seen by fly tippers)
• record details of how the waste was subsequently dealt with.

 Use the contact details on the right hand side of the page to report fly tipping in your area.