Hertsmere councillors have ruled out the use of community skips as part of a drive to crack down on fly-tipping.

Investment in clearance, the installation of CCTV cameras in fly-tipping hotspots and even the destruction of vehicles used in illegal dumping will continue.

But at a meeting of Hertsmere Borough Council’s executive committee, portfolio holder for environment and transport Cllr Seamus Quilty said there would be no investment in community skips.

The skips were one of the recommendations of a scrutiny review into fly-tipping conducted by councillors earlier this year.

But Cllr Quilty said they would generate more waste than the council could deal with.

He pointed to other nearby authorities, such as Barnet, where they had been introduced, but had to be removed.

He said: “Putting in community skips is a difficult idea. The chances are we will end up with more rubbish than we can deal with. And they will attract more fly-tipping. It’s not a good idea.

“What we are trying to do is to get people to recycle waste as best they can.”

Between 2010 and 2016 the Hertsmere Borough Council has spent £125,000 clearing up fly-tipped waste.

And it’s believed the authority may be a particular magnet for fly-tipping because of the large amount of green space.

Recommendations from the review included a ‘report it online’ button on the council’s website, further investment in CCTV and an investigation into the use of CIL monies to prevent fly-tipping.

Commenting on the use of CCTV, Cllr Pervez Choudhury, portfolio holder for community safety and performance, said the need for privacy always had to be balanced with the need for surveillance at each location.

He said that permanent cameras became less effective as soon as their location became known to fly-tippers – as waste would just be dumped in a different place.

But Cllr Jean Heywood said that as well as using CCTV everyone should be encouraged to be vigilant.

She revealed that she had herself used the council hotline to report fly-tipping behind her home – with the rubbish then cleared by the person who had dumped it.

Meanwhile there was was also a recommendation in the report that the council continue to bid for funds from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s fund and for funds for clearance from the council’s budget.

There was a recommendation for information about reporting and dealing with fly-tipping to be issued to councillors in a credit card sized format.

Aside from community skips, all the recommendations were backed by the Executive.