British police in West Mercia has started the implementation of a new initiative aimed at illegally dumped tires. This move comes amid an increase of incidents of unsanctioned dumping during lockdown.

Over the past 12 months, over 1,000 scrap tires were left as waste on land owned by Bradford Estates.

Shropshire and West Mercia Police representative Pc Phil Nock said that there has been a significant increase of cases of illegal dumping in the past 18 months.

The police try to battle this issue alongside Lord Newport and the Bradford Estates. Their joint initiative means that all garages in Shropshire and the surrounding areas will ‘tag’ their tires. This is believed to ease the process of tracing scrap tires, and people who dump them. The police hope that this will make potential offenders take the responsibility for their waste units. According to Pc Phil Nock, the garages will be provided with everything they need in order to mark their tires. Therefore, the initiative is completely free.

West Mercia officer added that the problem of illegal tire dumping exists all across the UK, not only in his region. Pc Phil Nock is hopeful that other police departments will also introduce similar initiative aimed at this issue.

Earlier, the government estimated that some 55 million waste tires are illegally discarded every year. The main problem arises when tire dealers promise to dispose old tires in accordance with the rules; however, they often fail to do so. They sometimes simply dump waste tires during late night hours. Even though there is a specific law, and those who illegally dump tires may end up in jail, the dealers continue to breach the regulations.

Bradford Estates, comprising of 12,000 acres of land and home to over 200 families and businesses, has been repeatedly targeted by fly-tippers over the past year, with rubbish including sofas, toys, tires and cannabis farm waste found on verges and roads and in gateways.

Article by Shropshire Star.