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Caerphilly County Borough Council has said its “usual robust process” to deal with fly-tipping was not “fully followed” after a dumped boat ended up on a bonfire.

The small red and white boat was first spotted and pictured by Caerphilly Observer on October 10, 2023, just off the roundabout near Caerphilly Business Park.

On October 13, Caerphilly Observer contacted the council, asking if they were aware of the boat, and if so, when they were planning on removing it.

The council responded later that day to confirm it was aware of the boat which had been fly-tipped, and were “investigating possible enforcement action”.

Six days later on October 16, the boat was still there, with the trailer carrying the boat now gone. A removal notice was issued by the council and put on the boat.

The boat remained there for several weeks after the notice was placed, which warned the owner they had 24 hours to remove it before the council did.

The boat disappeared, but instead of being collected by the council, it ended up on the Lansbury Park bonfire where it was pictured on November 4.

Caerphilly Observer recently used a picture of the dumped boat on a story about lower levels of reported fly-tipping – only for our readers to point out it actually ended up on the bonfire.

When asked why it had failed to dispose of the abandoned boat, despite knowing about it, a spokesperson said: “The council had served notice on the abandoned vehicle and were arranging for its removal from the site, however it was subsequently removed by an unknown third party.

“We take fly-tipping and end-of-life vehicle disposal very seriously but, due to circumstances beyond our control, our usual robust processes were not fully followed on this occasion.”

New figures show Caerphilly County Borough Council recorded the seventh-highest number of fly-tipping incidents in 2022/23.