FLY-TIPPING has decreased in Basildon, but the council is still fighting a war against the scourge.

Basildon Council had a total of 3,665 incidents of people illegally dumping rubbish for 2018/19, which was almost a thousand less incidents than the previous year.

The council has this year launched clean-up campaigns for the borough and has prosecuted residents for leaving waste in alleyways and even outside their own homes.

While the council has hailed the campaign a success, the figures for Basildon were still much higher than neighbouring boroughs.

There were 898 incidents in Southend, 959 in Castle Point, and 518 in Rochford.

The Echo previously reported that Basildon's figures had increased from the previous year, but this was incorrect.

Chairman of Basildon Council’s Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee, Councillor David Harrison, said: “Basildon Council removed 3665 incidences of fly-tipping for the 2018-2019 financial year, which is down from 4620 removals in 2017-2018.

"In the past year alone, we’ve launched the We’re Cleaning Up campaign and have issued fixed penalties to people who get caught flytipping accompanied with a number of successful prosecutions.

"The number of enforcement officers has also increased by two.

"More than 13,000 people booked a special collection through us last year – the vast majority of people do the right thing with their waste.

"We take flytipping and protecting the environment very seriously, and encourage all residents to do the right thing with their waste – we will carry on holding fly-tippers to account." Report fly-tipping at www.basildon.gov.uk.