Sandra Squire hits back at claims that Walton Highway, Walpoles and Terrington St Clement are among biggest waste crime hotspots in East of England

A councillor has cast doubt over claims that a cluster of villages is the region’s waste crime hotspot.

An Environment Agency report found the communities of Terrington St John, the Walpoles and Walton Highway had the highest concentration of environmental crimes like fly-tipping in East Anglia.

But figures suggest other parts of the county have had more problems with rubbish being dumped illegally.

West Norfolk Council’s cabinet member for environment, Sandra Squire, said in a report: “We are struggling to understand why we are showing as a hotter area than the rest of Norfolk.

“When we look at the fly-tipping cases reported across the county by district, the number of cases reported in West Norfolk isn’t obviously higher than elsewhere, and doesn’t apparently justify being called a hotspot.”

The Environment Agency has not provided further details of the data used to calculate its ‘heat map’ of waste crimes, which includes cases being investigated.

But it could be that crimes such as illegal waste burning – a well-known issue in the area where a number of high-profile incidents have occurred – have led to the claims.

The council also believes that having a dedicated team tackling fly-tipping has led to more reports of incidents, rather than an increase in cases.

“We’re just hearing about them more, which can only be a good thing,” Cllr Squire said.

Data released by the borough council puts Great Yarmouth Borough Council as having the highest number of fly-tipping in the district, with 7,720 this year.

The authority said this is due to changes in the way it reports fly-tipping for creating an anomaly in its high figures.

Norwich City Council has the second highest, with 5,638 reports this year, while West Norfolk Council has the third highest at 1,831.

Regardless of whether or not the villages are deserving of being dubbed East Anglia’s ‘waste crime hotspot,’ Cllr Squire said that the council is eager to clamp down on the problem.

“Fly-tippers are not welcome in West Norfolk, and we will do all that we can to find those responsible,” she added.