A flytipper has been caught red handed after a council officer made it his personal mission to track the lawbreaker down after he unloaded builders waste at a notorious dumping blackspot next to Grangewood Park. 

The council seized the flytippers van (pictured) with the help of a police stop in Edith Road, South Norwood, after the eagle eyed Neighbourhood Safety Officer located the vehicle which was involved in an alleged fly tip in Grange Road. The park perimeter is seen as an easy dumping ground for builders waste (pictured bottom right) last week. 

With the country in lockdown and many local authority tips forced to close, fly tipping has spiked. In Croydon, which also suspended its free bulky waste collection, residents have praised the efficiency of Veolia, the council’s rubbish collection contractor, but as quickly as staff remove fly tips more appear.

The recycling centres in Factory Lane, Fishers Farm, and Purley Oaks reopened yesterday (Wed) but are only open to drive-through visitors  and will allow one person to leave their car to carry waste. 

Frant Road and Meadowview has also seen a huge surge in fly tipping with 23 large plastic bags dumped along both roads.  Many of the bags contained decaying food and used diapers.  The amount dumped is increasing with fresh littering daily including three shopping trolleys. 

Last year, more fly tips were reported in Thornton Heath than anywhere else in Croydon with 2,997 reports which equates to more than 11 per cent of all 25,940 fly tips reported to Croydon, according to a Freedom of Information request.

Croydon didn’t have figures for the exact number of fly-tips, which means people may have reported the same fly-tip multiple times.

In January Croydon’s cabinet passed a motion calling on the government to run a national media campaign against fly tipping that spells out the environmental impact and the waste of public money clearing up after flytippers.