We have today, Wednesday 6 December, reaffirmed our tough stance on environmental crime across the borough by crushing a vehicle.

As part of our ongoing work to stop fly-tippers, a van was crushed after the vehicle’s owner was caught fly-tipping a large amount of household waste in Barnsley.

This vehicle was seized from an address in Sheffield using the enforcement team’s delegated powers as part of an investigation into environment-related offences. This investigation is ongoing.

We continue to crack down on fly-tippers in the borough to protect our great places and make people feel connected and valued in their community.

We are able to seize a vehicle for a number of different reasons and if the registered owner doesn’t claim the vehicle, we can choose to sell or destroy it. In this case, we crushed the vehicle to send a message to anyone considering fly-tipping or any other environmental offence.

Cllr Wendy Cain, Cabinet Spokesperson for Public Health and Communities, said: “It is unacceptable that individuals take it upon themselves to blight our local areas with fly-tipping.

“We’re working alongside the police and the general public to tackle fly-tipping by clearing waste and tacking action against those who dump it.

“If you choose to dump waste illegally in the borough then you risk losing your vehicle permanently, losing your driving license and you could face a hefty fine.”

You can take steps to help protect our borough against fly-tipping by being responsible with your waste. Only hand over your rubbish to someone with a valid waste carriers’ licence, make sure to pay by bank transfer and get a waste transfer note. You can be held responsible and face court action if you give your rubbish to someone who has no authority to carry waste.

You can find out more about the work Barnsley Council is doing to reduce environmental crime on our Everybody Think Facebook Page or by searching the hashtag #EverybodyThink on social media.