THE number of reported incidents of fly-tipping in Worcester has nearly doubled but not a single offender has been brought to book, the Worcester News can reveal.

That is in contrast to neighbouring councils in Malvern Hills and Wychavon which have managed to successfully prosecute cases over the last couple of years while their officers have also had success in issuing £75 fixed penalty notices to those caught in the act of illegally dumping rubbish.

Even though eagle-eyed people have been calling the city council in increasing numbers and with more regularity, its current set-up and lack of resources has left it almost impotent in the fight against fly-tipping which costs it time and money to clear waste.

As a result a cross-council environmental crime-fighting unit could be set up to help tackle the problem.

Councillor Roger Knight, Worcester’s deputy leader and cabinet member responsible for ‘cleaner and greener’, said: “We are looking to strengthen our environmental crime operation and we are hoping to work in conjunction with Wychavon District Council to further develop our ability to respond to all matters of environmental crime.”

There were 621 reported cases of fly-tipping between April 2010 and March 2011 compared with 334 the previous year – that is almost an 86 per cent increase – but not a single person was prosecuted.

Coun Knight believes the increase in reported cases is down to the success of last year’s Take Pride in Worcester campaign, which was run in conjunction with this newspaper.

“These campaigns are focused not just on clearing litter but on changing residents’ perceptions and attitudes to those who litter our streets and parks,” he said.

“We aim to make the act of littering as something perceived as socially unacceptable.”

In Wychavon there were 603 reported cases in 2010/11, up from 449 the previous year, and over the course of those two years 10 people were prosecuted and 29 fixed penalty notices were issued.

Dave Roberts, environmental crime officer at Wychavon, said: “We allocated resource to dealing with fly-tipping because the clean-up costs to the taxpayer are considerable and strong penalties can be a deterrent to those thinking of fly-tipping.

"It is also a blight to our environment and residents tell us they want tough action taken against those who commit environmental crime.”

Although the number of reports of fly-tipping in Malvern Hills fell slightly from 305 in 2009/10 to 299 last year, the council still successfully prosecuted three cases and issued 72 fixed penalty notices.

Helen Bingham, corporate communications manager for Keep Britain Tidy, said clearing fly-tiping cost councils in England almost £46 million last year.