A NEW weapon is being readied to battle the scourge of waste being dumped illegally across the district.

The number of flytipping reports has risen for the fourth year in a row and from this Saturday, Bradford Council will have new powers to hit those responsible with fines of up to £400.

The latest figures show there were 11,417 reports of flytipping across the district in 2015/16, which is 80 per cent higher than the levels seen three years before.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, the council’s executive member responsible for environmental issues, said: “Ultimately, flytipping is a blight for everyone and it is not right that the residents of the district pay for the thoughtless actions of others.”

The Government has given all local authorities the new powers to hand out the fixed penalties – a move Cllr Ferriby welcomed.

She said: “I think it will be a strong deterrent.”

She said the fixed penalties would only be given to small-scale flytippers, with larger-scale culprits still pursued through the courts.

The penalties will fine people £400, or £300 if paid quickly, and any money raised will be spent on environmental improvements in the district.

Worth Valley councillor Rebecca Poulsen, the Tory group's environment spokesman, also welcomed the new powers.

She said increased enforcement was the only way to tackle flytippers.

"Flytipping is just not fair on everybody who pays their council tax," she added. "It upsets me and makes me quite angry."

Cllr Poulsen said much of the problem centred around unscrupulous traders who offered to get rid of people's waste for a fee, then simply dumped it.

But she also accused the Labour-led authority of putting more and more barriers in the way of residents who had rubbish to dispose of.

Cllr Poulsen said the requirement for a permit to visit a tip, new charges to have a garden waste bin and soon-to-be introduced fortnightly bin collections were all sending out the wrong message.

She said: “People who forget their permit will get turned away and some of them will flytip.”

Oxenhope man Harry Lingard says he used to report flytipping all the time, but had now given up.

He said at one site – in Filey Street, Bradford – a load of tyres and wheels had appeared last Wednesday, while a pile of building rubble had been there for weeks.

He said: “On September 7, in the afternoon I came past and there were a lot of council vans there.

“I thought, good, they’re clearing it up, but they just shoved it to the side of the road and drove off and left it.

“It’s as if they are saying this is a place where flytipping is acceptable.”

People can report flytipping via the council website, bradford.gov.uk, or by calling 01274 431000.