OLDHAM Council leader Sean Fielding has taken to Facebook to insist that fly-tippers are punished.

He was commenting in response to the special report on fly-tipping by The Oldham Times on Monday.

In a Facebook post Mr Fielding wrote: “Sometimes people ask me whether we ever fine anybody or take anybody to court when we pick up fly-tipping.

“The process of a prosecution takes time so sometimes it takes a while before the tipping you see in Daisy Nook or a back alley hits somebody other than the Council Tax payer in the pocket. I can assure you, however, that we absolutely do.”

In Monday’s edition The Oldham Times revealed that more than 2,000 fly-tipping incidents occurred in Oldham last year.

According to latest annual figures from the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs, 496 fixed penalty notices were issued last year in Oldham, 230 of which were paid. There were also 77 prosecutions, costing £16,700.

For fines there were seven £0-£50 fines, 12 £15-£200 fines ,47 £201-£500 fines, five £501-£1000 fines and one £1001- £5000 fine. In total the fines came to £19,159.

In the same period, 348 littering fixed penalty notices were issued in conjunction with fly-tipping and 160 warning letters were sent.