Wyre Forest District Council, working in partnership with our Team Community's Localities Team, secured a successful prosecution against a resident in Kidderminster for fly tipping and failure to manage waste and rubbish at her home.

A Community Protection Warning (CPW) had been issued because of the amount of waste in Ms X’s garden and driveway. Statements and complaints from neighbours revealed that in order to clear the waste, Ms X or a member of her household, was fly tipping the waste in another part of the area.

 A Community Protection Notice (CPN) was served as a preventative measure to deal with the accumulation of waste. CPNs are designed to deal with unreasonable or ongoing acts of anti-social behaviour. The hope was that by dealing with the issue of the waste at her home, it would remove the need for fly tipping.

Ms X breached the CPN resulting in a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued. She failed to pay and failed to attend her interview under caution, therefore the decision was taken by WFDC to prosecute. She was convicted and fined £660 with Victim surcharge and £90 costs.

A spokesperson from WFDC’s Community & Environment Protection Team said: “The Community Protection Warnings/ Notices are very useful tools and our success rate, at warning/notice levels is well over 90% compliance therefore, prosecution files will be very low. This is our first prosecution file for breaching a CPN and we are delighted with the results. This also sets a precedent for future cases.”

It was acknowledged that the witness statement provided by a member of the Localities Team contributed towards the successful outcome and was a good example of partners working together to achieve the desired result.