Meon Valley Man’s Battle Against Fly-tippers To Feature On TV

Waste warrior Martin Montague’s battle against fly-tippers will feature in an episode of a major BBC One series tomorrow.

Martin, founder of the fly-tipping reporting app ClearWaste.com, will be on Scam Interceptors.

Martin, who lives in the Meon Valley, and his partner-in-grime Glenn Mckay, from Portsmouth, will be seen going undercover to gather evidence of fly-tippers in the act and showing presenter Rav Wilding, a former policeman, how they stake out fly-tipping hotspots to stop waste criminals.

“I do everything I can to stop fly-tippers,” says Martin. “We use technology on the app to log and track patterns of fly-tipping and drones with heat-seeking cameras to catch them but sometimes what it takes is getting decked out in camouflage gear and sitting in a ditch with a camera.

“Everyone hates fly-tipping – it’s terrible for the environment, costs taxpayers millions of pounds in clear up costs and it is often linked to organised crime and even more serious criminality – and I’ve made it my mission to help stop these people.”

It’s not without personal risk – Martin has been chased across fields by angry fly-tippers with dogs and pursued by drug dealers who were angry their activities were caught up in one of Martin’s investigations into a vast fly-tipping site in London.

“We’ve seen a big increase in fly-tipping since the pandemic hit,” says Martin. “Britain is sinking under a sea of filth. We need higher fines, the vehicles of offenders crushed or confiscated and prison terms for persistent waste criminals.”

But data obtained by ClearWaste reveals that three in five local authorities failed to carry out a single prosecution last year for fly-tipping, while one in five issued no fixed penalty notices at all.

Illegal dumping hit a record 1.1 million cases in 2020/21, but the number of prosecutions and court fines fell by half over the same period – with just two in every 1,000 offences resulting in a punishment.

Locally, Winchester City Council had more than 2,000 cases of fly-tipping but issued just six fines, of which only two were paid, and successfully prosecuted just two offenders.

“The fact that so many local authorities issue no fines or and prosecute no waste criminals at all is appalling and sends out the message that fly-tippers can operate in those areas with impunity,” says Martin.

ClearWaste.com is now helping people to get rid of extra rubbish using licensed waste removal companies with a new price comparison scheme that protects consumers and saves them money.

“It allows people to get rid of junk at reasonable prices avoid being ripped off by rogue traders people often find via social media who take their cash and then fly-tip the rubbish, leaving the householder at risk of a fine or prosecution,” Martin explains.

“There is an increasing demand for legal waste removal so we are now helping to link consumers with trustworthy, government-registered waste removal businesses and avoid fly-tippers.

“Our website makes it simple to find honest, reliable businesses including men – or women – and vans, skip hire or grab bags firms – all backed by our £1,000 no-fly-tipping guarantee. It’s all about making it easy for people to do the right thing.”

Scam Interceptors featuring Martin’s battle against fly-tippers will be screen at 10am on BBC One on Thursday April 7th.