Online tool to reducfe fly-tipping in Doncaster

Furniture Choice, an online furniture retailer, has created the app to help prevent people from dumping rubbish. The tool points the way to six recycling points at locations across the town, as well as one donation centre, encouraging people to dispose of their unwanted furniture legally.

The development comes after Doncaster Council revealed 20,000 residents complain about fly-tipping and littering each year.

Gail Bell, of Littlemoor Lane, Balby, said furniture was regularly left in alleyways near her home. She added: “The alleyways in Orchard Street and First Avenue are constantly filled with bags of rubbish, discarded furniture, prams, sofas – you name it.”

In 2014/15, cases of fly-tipping in England increased by 5.6 per cent, with local authorities reporting around 900,000 incidents which cost an estimated £50 million to remove.

Tom Obbard, director at Furniture Choice, said: “It is very worrying to see the figures of fly-tipping increasing in England, as this is not only a huge drain on local authorities finances, but on the environmental landscape too.

“According to our research it seems one of the main issues is that people are not being educated on fly-tipping – from the introduction of the new fixed penalty notice, to being unaware that it is against the law.

“With many Brits calling for councils to do more to increase the awareness of fly-tipping, perhaps a solution to the problem is to inform people on the effects of illegally dumping waste.”

The Star is putting the borough’s grot spots under the spotlight with a series of stories in an effort to help crack down on the problem.

n Visit www.furniturechoice.co.uk/recycling-tool/ to find out where your nearest recycling or donation station is.

n MP’s litter woe, p8 and 9