A RESIDENT of the Logan area is furious at the level of fly-tipping going on in his neighbourhood.

He has also become so frustrated at what he claims is lack of action on the part of the authorities that he has taken to collecting dumped items himself and taking them to waste disposal centres.

On one occasion, because he had paid several visits in a short space of time, staff at one of the centres assumed he was a tradesman and suggested that he would have to pay the going rate for businesses using the service.

Our photographer was taken on a short tour round the area and, within minutes, they had come across a fridge-freezer, a pile of tyres, a black bag full which had been burst open and numerous other items.

The infuriated resident said: “I came to Ayrshire around five or six years ago to work here and the situation has been getting steadily worse.

“It would appear that people are stopping at the side of the roads and emptying their cars and nobody seems to be paying attention or is doing anything about it.

“East Ayrshire is falling behind other areas because of this — it has a lot going for it, but this is damaging the countryside and there is no way we will be able to attract tourists.

“People need to be more respectful, but they don’t seem to care and what makes it worse is that no-one seems to be able to stop them.”

Among the constructive proposals he has suggested is going into schools and involving teachers and council workers in educating young people in the hope that they will also be an influence on their peers.

East Ayrshire Council (EAC) say they are committed to tackling the problem, but want people to report incidents Regulatory services manager at EAC, Paul Todd, said: “Sadly, there are a group of people who choose to fly tip their waste rather than dispose of it appropriately.

“We take a zero-tolerance approach towards people who think it acceptable to illegally disposal of their waste, prosecuting every case where individuals are identified.

“We also embrace new ways to carry out environmental enforcement activity.

“We were the first local authority in Scotland to patrol on bikes and we regularly visit local towns and villages, targeting environmental crimes such as littering, dog fouling and fly tipping.

“Our corporate enforcement unit also makes active use of technology to ensure that a proactive approach is taken to tackling crime, keeping in contact with the local community through social media and using CCTV cameras in areas that have been identified as hot spots for fly tipping.

“Fly tipping is completely unacceptable. It is also illegal and we depend on people reporting it to us in order to take action.

“The more detail provided, the more chance we have of catching the perpetrators.

“Names, descriptions of people, vehicles and number plates are of great assistance in helping us catch and convict offenders.”.

People are urged not to touch waste themselves, but to report fly-tipping to the Dumb Dumpers Stop-line on 08454 2 30 40 90 and every call will be acted on.