The Welsh Assembly Government and local councils have been urged to do more to punish fly-tippers, as new figures show just 1% of fly-tipping incidents have led to prosecutions.

Figures obtained by the Welsh Conservatives found authorities across Wales took 645 incidents to court out of the 54,841 recorded in 2006-07.

In Conwy, there was one prosecution for fly-tipping, despite 1,328 reported incidents.

A spokesperson for Conwy County Borough Council said it had recently implemented a number of key changes, including developing a more detailed recording system which could distinguish between genuine fly-tipping incidents and general side waste issues. It had also invested in new camera equipment to provide evidence at hot-spot locations.

As a result, the council currently had a number of cases pending. But shadow environment minister, Darren Millar, said: ‘The assembly government already has existing powers at its disposal to deal with issues such as fly-tipping, yet there figures show they are just not being used effectively.’

A spokesperson for WAG responded: ‘While prosecution figures may look low, they do not account for the significant time and effort that local authorities put in to enforcement action generally, such as investigation actions and the issuing of warning letters.’

WAG is also working with DEFRA to consult on new improved powers for tackling waste crime (Surveyor, 19 June 2008).