A five-year plan to tackle illegal waste dumping on the borough’s streets is being rolled out in Haringey.

The council’s fly tipping strategy aims to halve the number of illegal waste dumps from the current level of 24,000 a year through a combination of education and enforcement.

Fly-tipping affects all of the borough but is a particular problem in the areas around Tottenham High Road and Bruce Grove.

The council will target these ‘hot-spot’ areas, working with landlords, schools, residents’ associations and other groups to encourage responsible waste disposal.

A publicity campaign will be launched to boost civic pride, make people aware of the problems caused by fly-tipping and highlight the penalty faced by offenders – up to a £400 fine if they are caught by the council.

The council will also focus on improving the design of urban areas to cut fly-tipping opportunities by installing gates, fencing and temporary CCTV cameras.

Area enforcement teams will be introduced to target the biggest offenders and ensure fly-tips are cleared within 24 hours.

A council survey showed cleanliness is a top priority for the borough’s residents – second only to safety on the list of issues that affect their day-to-day quality of life.

Fly-tipping also costs Haringey taxpayers more than £3 million per year, which has a wider impact on the local authority’s finances.

By the end of the five-year period, the council hopes to have reduced the proportion of residents saying fly-tipping is a problem in their area from 39 per cent to 27 per cent.

The strategy was launched at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (April 2).

Kirsten Hearn, cabinet member for environment, told the meeting: “The cleanliness of our streets, open spaces and parks is something we know our residents are passionate about.

“Our new borough plan includes commitments to improve this and this fly-tipping strategy and action plan will help us deliver on this ambition.”