The mission is officially launching this during the Great British Spring Clean and is being led by the Allerdale Local Focus Hub, a partnership between various organisations such as the police, councils, housing associations and charities.  

All the agencies involved in the operation have published an open letter to the community today highlighting the reasons why they’re coming together to support the initiative.  

Fly-tipping is seen as an escalating issue in the area, with 1,572 reports made to Allerdale Borough Council alone in 2020, compared to 1,304 the previous year. Therefore, the problem has been referred to the Hub for a coordinated response.  

It is anticipated the operation will run for several months with a series of different activities planned, including community tidy-up days led by housing associations, a ‘back lane blitz’ targeting some of the worst-affected back lanes in the borough for cleaning, as well as education and enforcement work, joint patrols between partners in hot-spot areas and police-led enforcement activities.  

Cllr Jim Lister, Allerdale Borough Council executive member with responsibility for environmental services, said: “Fly-tipping is a big issue in the area and it’s one of the main things our residents and businesses contact us about. As part of our 10-year Council Strategy we pledged to create a ‘cleaner, greener Allerdale’ so we are delighted to support the Hub’s initiative and offer our help in tackling this problem.  

“Fly-tipping is illegal, unsightly and dangerous and I’d urge everyone to play their part in stopping this activity.”  

Sergeant Scott Adams said: “Fly-tipping has been a large problem within Allerdale and we are happy to support or partners in tackling these issues together. 

“We will look to target those without waste licenses and the areas we have seen being used to fly-tip.  

“We would encourage people to report fly-tips and if you witness someone dumping items to help us stop the issue.” 

The first official event as part of the operation took take place on Friday (June 4) in Moorclose organised by Castles & Coasts Housing Association. It was an opportunity for residents for residents to get rid of bulky items and waste they have otherwise been unable to remove, recycle items, take part in clean-up activities and receive information on fly-tipping and waste disposal. 

Lena Johnson, Team Leader at Castles & Coasts Housing Association, said: “As a housing association managing over 7,000 properties across the north of England, we work hard to ensure that our communities are clean, green places with outdoor areas that residents can enjoy. 

“Fly-tipping is a blight on communities, and areas across Allerdale have been impacted by this problem in recent years.  We are delighted to be working collaboratively with the local authority in the area, our residents and like-minded community organisations such as the Allerdale Local Focus Hub to help clean up our neighbourhoods and pro-actively address this issue through Operation Respect.”