There have been more than 4,000 fly-tipping incidents recorded in Renfrewshire over the past two years, it has been revealed, as council bosses admit culprits are getting smarter.
The data emerged during discussions at the latest meeting of the council's environment board when Labour group leader Eddie Devine demanded an explanation for the alarming statistic from officers.
But in response, environment boss Chris Dalrymple sought to play down the worrying figure, insisting that not all recorded cases were what people would regard as fly-tipping.
However, he also admitted more people were finding ways to dodge getting caught and often there is little evidence to show who has dumped items illegally.
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
During the meeting, Councillor Devine said: "Why have we had over 4,000 cases of fly-tipping over the past two years?
"Could you tell me how many people have been caught? Could you tell me how many fines have been dealt out and have we taken anyone to court?"
The figure came from a Freedom of Information request submitted to all councils across the country by the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
The data also showed just 95 fixed penalty notices (FPN) - which are currently £200 - have been issued in Renfrewshire for fly-tipping since September 2019 and only six cases have been referred to the Procurator Fiscal.
Mr Dalrymple said some of the reports would be people who had put bin bags next to a full bin rather than perhaps more serious cases where rubbish had been thrown into the street from a lorry.
However, he did insist officers were trying to change their tactics in the hope of catching more criminals.
He said: "Every local authority deals with fly-tipping and one of the things we've been working on with SEPA [Scottish Environment Protection Agency] is working out what is fly-tipping and was is an appropriate presentation of waste.
"So fly-tipping that we see where someone has dumped stuff off the back of a lorry and left it in the street, I feel, is different from people who want to get rid of bin bags and have left them next to a bin because it’s full but they are all gathered into one category.
" Unfortunately people are getting smarter and so quite often there is no identification as to where the waste has come from.
"We are trialling a different tact at the moment, so whereas the wardens used to go and inspect and the waste was removed, we’re actually going at the same time now to some of the areas so we can burst bags open and try and identify where they are coming from."
Councillor Devine said Causeyside Street in Paisley was a concern with people regularly dumping bags of rubbish outside of businesses.
Mr Dalrymple insisted it is an area officers are looking at but it is also a street that still has bag collections rather than bin uplifts.
Where there is evidence of who has dumped waste, the culprit will be issued with an FPN which, if paid, ends the matter.
If it is not paid, the council then decides in discussion with the Fiscal if it wants to take the matter to court.
Download the FREE Renfrewshire Live app now for all the latest news, features and sport: smarturl.it/RenfrewLiveSocial
