Blackburn with Darwen Council has revealed its environmental crime team has successfully completed 22 waste prosecutions in the last six months resulting in fines totalling £14,584.

They related to a mixture of offences in the borough including fly-tipping, littering, waste accumulation and waste on land.

Despite being contacted by the council regarding their offences initially, the perpetrators had not paid their fines and therefore their cases were passed on to the courts.

The offences date back as far as 2022.

The highest fine given to an individual was £660 and the lowest was £146 with court costs having to be paid on top of them.

The total of all fines was £14,584.

In the last financial year, the environmental crime team had a total of 122 fixed penalty notices paid.

Cllr Shaukat Hussain, assistant executive member for the environment, said: "The environmental crime team do a fantastic job in enforcing waste issues and fly tipping across the borough to improve the area for all who live or work in it.

"Despite being a small team, they are committed and passionate about the work they carry out which is obvious in the number of successful prosecutions received.

"This is a huge deterrent to anybody who is considering fly tipping or creating a waste issue. Thank you to all who were involved."