A councillor has urged people in the borough to help tackle the scourge of fly-tipping and littering in the borough.

His comments came after it was revealed a new CCTV camera installed at one of the most littered car parks in Blackburn has led to 16 fixed penalty notices being issued.

Bastwell and Daisyfield ward councillor Shaukat Hussain, who is also assistant executive member for environment, said people should report fly-tipping to their local council as soon as they see it.

He had particular concerns over incidents within the Bastwell and Daisyfield ward where a number of incidents of fly-tipping had been reported in recent months.

Cllr Hussain said: “The number of reports of rubbish being tipped in the borough is going up. 

“It is not fair on residents and volunteers who always take care of their rubbish and dispose of it properly. 

“They do regular litter pick and clean ups. 

“Many residents have pride in the area and just a few culprits are letting the area down.

“They must be from the local area as we don’t believe it is people from out of the area. It costs about £7 to get the council to come and pick items up or it’s free if they go to the recycling centre.

“If we can identify the fly-tippers the council will prosecute them but to do that we need help from the community to come forward and start reporting them.”

Some of the incidents of fly-tipping in the borough shared by Cllr HussainLast year, it was announced a CCTV camera had been deployed to crack down on litterbugs who were plaguing a car park off Ash Street in Bastwell.

Under the scheme, if there is evidence to show that litter was thrown from a vehicle, the registered keeper will receive a fine regardless of who committed the littering.

The car park is notorious for people eating takeaway food in their cars and then dumping the used boxes. This is despite there being bins located within the immediate vicinity.

Cllr Hussain said: “In the last month 16 people have been issued with fixed penalty notices.

“There were numerous complaints over the state of this car park. I am glad that action is being taken.

“Whilst CCTV cameras are great for some areas of course it takes a community effort to ensure neighbourhoods remain clean.”