Black Country council appears to promote fly-tipping in email blunder

The error was later brought to the council’s attention by PR agency boss Matt Walker, who jokingly tweeted: “Excellent – I’ve got some stuff to get rid of.”

Emails were resent to those on the council’s mailing list but this time with correct details.

The authority said it had meant to remind people that they can be fined £400 if caught fly-tipping.

A council spokesman tweeted: “Sorry about the typo, we have re-issued this E-newsletter reminding people that they could receive a £400 [fine] if they are caught fly-tipping.”

Sandwell bosses issued a stark warning earlier this week after fining West Bromwich residents £400 each over a string of fly-tipping offences. One incident saw a homeowner’s rubbish dumped in Bilhay Lane.

The offender later told enforcement officers she had paid a ‘man in a van’ £150 to clear her waste. But she was still slapped with a fixed penalty notice for not following her ‘duty of care’.

Another resident was fined when a letter, with his address on, was found stuffed inside an abandoned chest of drawers in Mason Street. He later admitted dumping the furniture.

A third incident saw a woman fined after dumping two bin bags at a bus stop in Izons Road. Again, evidence was found inside linking the rubbish to her address.

The fines were the latest issued by the authority which said it was clamping down on fly-tippers.

The council has issued 47 fixed penalty notices since April 2021 for fly-tipping, littering and failure of the householders’ duty of care to use a registered waste carrier.