SEDGEMOOR District Council has paid out £78,194 of taxpayers' money in order to clear up fly-tipping by residents in the last year.

New figures compiled by the government reveal the council dealt with a total of 1,177 incidents, of which 730 involved waste left on roads, and 430 involved council land.

The figures also break down the type of fly-tipping involved. In Sedgemoor there were four incidents involving animal carcasses, 69 involving white goods, 20 involving vehicle parts and 69 where tyres had been abandoned, 103 incidents involved black bags.

Of these incidents, 197 were single items which were removed at a cost of £5,713, 143 required a car boot to clear at a cost of £4,147, 474 needed small vans costing £26,544, and 363 were cleared in transit vans at a cost of £41,745.

Sedgemoor District Council spent £3,894 investigating incidents, issuing 28 warning letters, 17 fixed penalty notices but zero prosecutions in the government figures.

However at the start of the month, the Bridgwater Mercury reported on the case of unemployed father-of-two Marcus Jones, aged 25, from Dukes Mead, Bridgwater, who was arrested and held overnight after he failed to appear for a summons about an unpaid fixed penalty notice for dumping rubbish.

By way of comparison, Taunton Deane had 664 incidents which cost the council £49,308 to clear, while South Somerset had 1,150, costing £61,688 to clean up.

Responding to the Government’s latest data on fly-tipping, Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s environment spokesman, said: “Litter and fly-tipping is environmental vandalism – it’s unpleasant, unnecessary and unacceptable. Not only does fly-tipping create an eyesore for residents, it is also a serious public health risk, creating pollution and attracting rats and other vermin.

“Clearing up fly-tipping is costing councils more than £57 million a year – money that could be spent on other services, like caring for the elderly, protecting children or tackling homelessness. It is unacceptable that they are having to spend vast amounts each year tackling this scourge.

“The Government has responded to our call for councils to be able to apply Fixed Penalty Notices for small scale fly-tipping – and this is a big step in the right direction. When they take offenders to court, councils need a faster and more effective legal system which means fly-tippers are given hard-hitting fines for more serious offences. Manufacturers also need to provide more take-back services so people can hand in old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones.”