Fly-tippers’ vehicles to be crushed in bid to save England from ‘avalanche of rubbish’

Councils will be encouraged to work with police forces to seize and crush vehicles used by fly-tippers, in the latest phase of a government policy blitz before Thursday’s local elections. Police will be encouraged to help identify vehicles being used with drones and mobile CCTV cameras. To unveil the initiative, Steve Reed, the environment secretary, visited a recycling centre in Wokingham, Berkshire, where a van used in fly-tipping was being crushed. Reed said: “Waste criminals and fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages have gone unpunished for too long. That’s why we support the government’s crackdown on waste criminals, which will ensure we have the right powers to shut rogue operators out of the waste industry.”