“Cowboy waste carriers” are being given the green light to fly tip in Bracknell Forest, a councillor has claimed.

Conservative councillor John Harrison said Bracknell Forest Council had done ‘zero, nada, nothing, zip’ to buy more CCTV cameras to clamp down on fly-tippers.

He made the accusation after the council said it had not bought any more CCTV cameras to tackle fly-tipping, which it said it would look into in July.

He said a major fly-tipping incident in Warfield this month – where medicine and building material was dumped on a country road – meant Bracknell Forest Council should think again.

Councillor Harrison said: “In light of yet another incident of serious fly-tipping, this time in Wellers Lane in Warfield, will you put residents first by reconsidering the effective refusal to step up the PPP CCTV capacity?

“Or will you continue to give the green light to cowboy waste carriers given that it’s hard to get prosecutions without evidence?”

READ MORE: Medicine left among fly tipped waste on lane in Warfield

Bracknell Forest councillors voted in July to look into the most cost-effective way of tackling fly-tipping, specifically considering whether to buy more CCTV cameras.

But they said they would only consider paying for this if the council had money left over at the end of the financial year, March 2024. This is unlikely, as Bracknell Forest Council currently predicts it could end the year £2.5 million over budget.

Despite this, councillor Harrison asked how many new CCTV cameras had been bought since July.

Iskandar Jefferies – the Labour councillor responsible for public protection – said enforcement staff had been successful in tackling environmental crime and had not asked for new CCTV cameras. But he said he would still look into it at the end of the financial year.

Councillor Jefferies said: “There has been no call from the service to ask for additional CCTV cameras to meet their objectives, so none have been purchased.”

He said that officers in the Public Protection Partnership used an “intelligence led approach” to catching fly-tippers, and that CCTV cameras were not the only tool they could use.

He said: “We do recognise the importance of CCTV as a force multiplier in the arsenal in fighting fly-tipping. However CCTV is not the only solution in a robust, holistic approach.

“Where CCTV is in place it is located in fly-tipping hotspots around the borough, but it is not the only tool used in identifying individuals who fly-tip.”

Councillor Jefferies added the number of fly-tipping incidents in the borough had dropped by 11.5 per cent – from 714 in 2021-22, to 633 in 2022-23.

And he said the council was looking into doubling fixed penalty fines for those caught fly-tipping, with a decision due on December 18.