Frodsham ward councillor, Lynn Riley, has recently been campaigning for better enforcement of fly-tipping laws on Frodsham Marshes.

At this week's Frodsham Town Council meeting, Cllr Riley said that she writes regularly to Cheshire West Council, Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, David Keane, DEFRA and the Environment Agency, appealing for support in combating the issue.

"I have been writing to David Keane for several months now, asking him to lead on a problem-solving approach to the fly-tipping on the Marshes," she said.

"I spend more hours and days than I care to think about bouncing between different regulatory agencies, trying to look for solutions and some money to enforce the laws of the land when it comes to the continual dumping that takes place there."

"We have missed opportunity after opportunity to install CCTV in and around the Marshes.

"At the end of the day, this is an environmental crime. Sooner or later, somebody's going to dump something down there that is going to have serious health implications and we don't want to get to that point."

A recent Freedom of Information request by Frodsham Nub News found that, in the Vale Royal area of the borough, including Frodsham, Northwich and Winsford, there are, on average, 1,200 fly-tipping incidents dealt with by the Council each year.

Fly-tipped waste in Frodsham is most commonly found towards or on the Marshes, with Lordship Lane, Brook Furlong and Ship Street said to be the 'top' roads where dumping is reported.

The Ridgeway and Dobers Lane, off Manley Road, are also popular spots for fly-tippers.

Cheshire West has also calculated that, if the costs of clearing up litter and fly-tipped waste are combined, they total an annual spend of £3.1million.

This was described by Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Karen Shore, as "an incredible amount of money, money that could be spent elsewhere if litter and fly-tipping didn't exist. We all need to play our part by putting our rubbish in a bin or taking it home if one isn't available."

From the more than 3,000 fly-tipping incidents to which Cheshire West were called in 2019, only 43 fines and 237 fixed penalty notices were issued, showing how difficult it is to catch offenders.