Fly-tippers dump more than 50 tonnes of commercial waste by leisure centre in West Lothian

Images of fly-tipping in West Lothian are evidence of “white van man on steroids”, a councillor has claimed.

Labour veteran Tom Conn pointed to commercial waste dumped by Linlithgow’s leisure centre as evidence of people doing jobs on the cheap.

He branded fly-tipping of building materials in Livingston and also Linlithgow as a charge on the community.

Another councillor for the town questioned an apparent drop in fly-tipping claimed by Neighbourhood Environment Teams.

The comments came a day after West Lothian revealed that “unauthorised encampments” had been responsible for tipping commercial waste in both Craigswood, Livingston and in Linlithgow.

More than 50 tonnes of commercial waste was dumped at the site in Livingston. Photos of the waste – including builders rubble and gas bottles- were supplied to the council by a team from West Lothian Litter Pickers- a volunteer group.

Councillor Conn told a meeting of the Linlithgow Local Area Committee. I think we have to acknowledge the work of our teams as well as that of West Lothian Litter pickers.”

The councillor added: “It’s quite clear what happened at the leisure centre, and at Craigswood is fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour of the worst kind that we need to highlight.

“This is white van man on steroids- taking jobs on the cheap and dumping their waste with no thought for local people or children who may be affected.

“The cost here is on the whole community.”

The report to the local area committee by Victoria Mungall, the Interim NETs Land and Countryside Manager suggested that fly -tipping incidents had dropped considerably in the second quarter of this year.

However Councilor Pauline Orr told the meeting: “We are saying that it’s gone down here.” But she added that on regular drives between Linlithgow and Livingston she had seen more fly-tipping than ever, including kitchen appliances especially in lay-bys and on the roadside of back roads. “ Could there be some flaw in the information? she asked.

Following the Craigswood incident a spokesperson for the council said: “If an offer to collect and dispose of your waste sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

They added: “We would again issue a plea to all householders to ensure that if they are getting work done in and around their homes to ensure that the company taking your waste away for disposal is licenced to dispose of it (as is the legal requirement). This applies to a company carrying out work for you, or paying a company to simply remove the waste after work has been carried out.

“Businesses disposing of waste need to be licenced with SEPA to ensure what is being disposed of is safe and legal. (This is Scotland wide, not just within West Lothian).

“It is your responsibility to check that anyone you pay to collect and dispose of your waste is genuine and will take the waste to a properly licensed waste disposal site.

“ You should ask for their Waste Carrier Registration number and check it against SEPA’s Waste Carriers Register which is online. Keep a note of these and ask for a receipt which confirms what they have taken and where they will dispose of it.”