Cracking down on the waste criminals blighting Blackpool

Fly-tipping isn't a minor nuisance in Blackpool. A pile of dumped mattresses in your back alley, builders' waste on your street, bags of rubbish in your local park – it makes it impossible for us to feel proud or safe in our communities.

It's an issue I hear about constantly from constituents in Blackpool. From day one fly-tipping has littered my casework inbox. Enveco waste management do a great job of clearing it up rapidly once alerted to it, but time and again more appears in the same dumping hot spots. It’s an endless cycle, and a waste of our resources and time.

Whether it's a back street, a patch of open land, or somewhere that should be a green space for families to enjoy, illegal dumping drags down whole neighbourhoods and far too often, it's honest residents and hard-pressed councils left to pick up the bill and the mess.

Now the government announced its toughest crackdown yet on waste crime and it's exactly the action Blackpool needs.

Waste crime isn't just fly-tipped rubbish left by individuals. Behind much of it are organised criminal gangs, running illegal waste sites and profiting at everyone else's expense. Nationally, waste crime costs the economy £1 billion a year, with an estimated one in five tonnes of waste in England illegally managed. That's a staggering scale of criminality undercutting honest businesses who play by the rules, and scarring the communities left to live with the consequences.

This government’s new package puts real power behind enforcement. Fixed Penalty Notices issued by the Environment Agency for waste offences are rising from £300 to £5,000. New powers will scrap the two-year time limit on confiscating cash, cars, houses and other assets bought with the proceeds of waste crime, so criminals can no longer simply wait out an investigation and keep their gains.

The police and National Crime Agency will play a far bigger role, treating serious waste crime as the organised crime it is. Operation UNITE, the nationwide crackdown on illegal waste sites, is moving into its second phase, building on a first phase that visited 42 sites, suspended or began revoking 17 permits and triggered more than 30 new criminal investigations.

And crucially, mayors and local leaders will be given a leading role in tackling waste crime in their areas, through new regional multi-agency partnerships bringing together councils, police and the Environment Agency. The first pilots launch in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester this autumn and I'll be watching closely to see how this model could strengthen the response here in Blackpool too.

A consultation has also launched this week on "clean-up squads”. Under the plans, fly-tippers could be ordered to complete up to 20 hours of unpaid work clearing streets and parks – and made to repay the cost of clearing up their own mess, rather than leaving council taxpayers to foot the bill. It's a simple principle – if you dump it, you clean it up.

Fly-tipping isn't a victimless crime. It costs our council money that should be going into services people rely on. It damages the environment. And it chips away at the pride residents feel in their own neighbourhoods, something that is so important to us in Blackpool, who are already fighting the toxic rhetoric that our town is a dumping ground.

This crackdown gives local agencies stronger powers, tougher penalties, and better coordination to go after the people responsible, whether that's an organised criminal gang running an illegal site, or persistent fly-tippers dumping rubbish on our streets. As your MP, I'll be pushing to make sure these new powers are used here in Blackpool and holding local agencies to account to ensure real, visible action follows.

We deserve streets, parks and neighbourhoods that we can be proud of. This crackdown is a serious step towards making that a reality.

Have your say — and report it when you see it

If you've been affected by fly-tipping in Blackpool, this is your chance to have a direct say in how offenders are held accountable. The consultation is now open and closes on 16 October 2026. You can share your views here.

In the meantime, if you spot fly-tipping in your neighbourhood, please report it to Blackpool Council so it can be dealt with: Report a fly-tip

And if fly-tipping is a persistent problem on your street or in your area, get in touch with your local councillor directly. They can raise it with the council and push for action where reports keep going unanswered: Find your local councillor

Every report matters. The more evidence councils and enforcement agencies have of persistent hotspots, the easier it is to target action where it's needed most.