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There were nine prosecutions and 27 fixed penalty notices issued by Caerphilly County Borough Council for fly-tipping in 2021/22, figures reveal.

The figures, which were recorded between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022, show Caerphilly as the third highest local authority in Wales for prosecutions in that time period, behind only Rhondda Cynon Taf (42) and Newport (29).

In terms of fixed penalty notices issued, Caerphilly ranked sixth highest during those 12 months.

Across Wales, there were 906 fixed penalty notices issued and 91 prosecutions.

In total, there were 1,980 recorded incidents of fly-tipping across the borough, with 41,333 recorded across Wales.

Councillor Philippa Leonard, Caerphilly Council’s cabinet member for Planning and Public Protection, said the authority is “very proud to be within the top performing local authorities in Wales when it comes to enforcement and dealing with those responsible for fly-tipping and will continue to work hard and look at different ways of working to address this ongoing issue”.

Cllr Leonard added: “We take the issue of fly tipping in the borough very seriously, which is why we will continue with our zero-tolerance approach and where we can secure evidence, we will always pursue a prosecution in court or issue a fine for those responsible.”

Neil Harrison, of Fly-tipping Action Wales, said: “Whilst there has been a very small increase in reported incidents in Caerphilly, it’s reassuring to see 16 of the 22 local authorities have reported a decrease in incidents and almost a thousand enforcement actions have been delivered.

“It remains the case that around two-thirds of all fly-tipping incidents contain waste from households, which is why we are urging residents to protect themselves from unregistered waste carriers and asking them to always check with Natural Resources Wales that the person they use to remove any excess rubbish from their home is a registered waste carrier.

“Otherwise, residents can be fined up to £5,000 and end up with a criminal record if taken to court – with the person found guilty of fly-tipping the waste also liable for enforcement action and an unlimited fine.”