London Council Deploys Cameras In Fly-Tipping Fight

A south London council has introduced a new weapon in the fight against fly tipping – smart cameras.

Sutton Council has reached a deal with Vodafone to acquire the devices, which will be placed at various locations that have become notorious for the problem in the borough, Total Telecom reports.

Deployed as part of the local authority’s Internet of Things project, they will be used for the next 12 months in a bid to notify the council of instances of fly-tipping so they can be dealt with quickly, as well as potentially helping to identify the perpetrators.

The move comes after 319 instances a month of fly tipping were reported to the council last year and a consultation on the issue found 77 per cent of respondents wanted tougher action over the issue. Residents have been concerned about the growing problem as it has attracted rodents and encouraged anti-social behaviour, including more fly tipping.

Among the locations where cameras will be installed are residential areas managed by Sutton Housing Partnership.

Speaking about the move, Chair of the Environment & Sustainable Transport Committee at Sutton Council, Councillor Manuel Abellan, said: “The Council’s SCRAP IT campaign last year showed residents that we are committed to tackling the problem of fly-tipping around Sutton.”

The need for rubbish clearance services has increased all over the UK since the start of the pandemic, especially in 2020 when normal refuse collection services were disrupted.

Last month, SW Londoner reported that volunteers from the Oval area of Lambeth had spent the last year carrying out litter picks to deal with the high levels of fly tipping and general littering in the ward, collecting 2.3 tonnes of rubbish in the process.

This included cleaning up an alleyway that had been notorious for fly tipping and getting the council to put up a notice there warning against such activity, a move that has successfully curbed the problem.