Fridges and toilet among items fly-tipped in town

Fridges, furniture and a toilet are among the items to have been fly-tipped across land in Keighley.

The waste was found in the Guard House area of the town on Monday as officers from West Yorkshire Police and Bradford Council carried out an operation to deal with illegal dumping.

Last week, figures published by the local authority revealed there had been 118 reports of environmental crime across the Keighley and Ilkley constituency area since the start of April.

At a meeting of the council's Keighley and Ilkley Area Committee, councillors were told four new CCTV cameras had been put up to catch fly-tippers in the Keighley West ward.

Members were told that Bradford Council had recently issued its first £1,000 fine for fly-tipping, after recently increasing its maximum penalty for the offence from £400.

Councillor Joe O'Keefe, who represents Keighley West for Labour, told the meeting a piece of land off Guard House Avenue was a "well-known hotspot" for fly-tipping.

The land in question is owned by housing association Incommunities, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. The BBC has contacted Incommunities for comment.

O'Keefe said: "We think there is a guy doing illegal house clearances, dumping waste on this land after charging people to take it away to a tip.

"He is tipping fridges and mattresses.

"When you have serial offenders like this guy, it needs dealing with."

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