Two individuals have received £400 fixed penalty notices thanks to Gloucester City Council's new fly-tipping policy.

Both offenders had dumped general household waste, recyclables and clothing - and one had also fly-tipped dirty nappies.

It comes as new national statistics reveal that for the 2015/16 year, local authorities dealt with 936,000 fly-tipping incidents, a four per cent increase over 2014/15.

Investigations by Environmental Protection Officers led to the two unrelated discoveries, at Dexter Way in Westgate and Old Row at Barton and Tredworth.

Fixed penalty notices have now been issued to both individuals.

To protect public health and the environment, Gloucester City Council now has the power to issue fines, making it easier to crack down on fly tipping offences.

Under the new policy, the council can also seize and dispose of vehicles that have been used in fly tipping incidents, while those found to be illegally transporting waste will be also be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £300.

Cllr Richard Cook, cabinet member for the environment, said: "We want to send a clear message that fly tipping in the city will not be tolerated.

"These are the first of the new fixed penalty notices to be issued under our new measures and we will continue to take a tough stance when dealing with individuals who put public health at risk by dumping waste illegally.

"Individuals who ignore the fixed penalty notices can expect to be prosecuted in court, which will lead to much higher fines and compensation awards."

"We want to make Gloucester a more welcoming place for residents and visitors, and this starts by having a clean environment."

According to the latest statistics, 67 per cent of fly-tips in 2015/16 involved household waste, an increase of 6.5 per cent from 2014/15.

The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on highways, which accounted for 50 per cent of total incidents in 2015/16, a 7.9 per cent increase on 2014/15.

A third of all incidents consisted of a quantity of material equivalent to a 'small van load', while the second largest size category for fly-tipping incidents was a 'car boot', which accounted for 29 per cent of total incidents by size.

The estimated cost of clearance for fly-tipping to local authorities in England in 2015/16 was £49.8 million.

Local authorities carried out 494 thousand enforcement actions in 2015/16 at an estimated cost of £16.9million, nearly £700,000 decrease on 2014/15.

Have increased charges for disposing of commercial waste fuelled the rise in fly-tipping? Email mark@moosemarketingandpr.co.uk