A COUNCILLOR has said he is 'horrified' by a sharp rise in the number of fly-tipping incidents across Torfaen in the last year.

Figures show the number of incidents in the first six months of this financial year was 499, compared to 691 in the whole of the previous financial year.

The issue was brought up at a full meeting of Torfaen County Borough Council on Tuesday.

Cllr Fiona Cross (Labour, Coed Eva ward), executive member for environment, said the figures were a "worrying indicator" and that the rise was for "no apparent reason."

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Answering a question from Cllr Huw Bevan (Conservative, Llanyrafon East and Ponthir), she said: "We make it easy for residents to dispose of their waste and there have been no changes to current policy to encourage this type of behaviour.

"I do not believe any form of fly-tipping is justified.

"It's an environmental blight and affects how people perceive this area.

"It also puts a shadow over our council as people blame us, but we are not the ones doing it."

Cllr Cross said the council is committed to making Torfaen "cleaner and greener" - one of the priories in the local authority's corporate plan.

The British site has previously been the victim of fly-tipping. 

Figures also show there has been a slight rise in the number of prosecutions for fly-tipping in Torfaen this year.

Enforcement action was taken in 41 incidents in the first six months of this financial year, equating to 8.4 per cent of the reported incidents.

This was higher than the overall percentage for 2017 which was six per cent.

Cllr Cross added: "Our crews have been more vigilant in looking for evidence and taking it forward but we can only take action where there is evidence of where waste came from.

"We also invested in CCTV hotspot locations and that is currently being monitored for its effectiveness."

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Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Bevan said he was 'horrified' and 'alarmed' by the increased number of fly-tipping incidents.

He added: "The level of litter on the A4042 from the police headquarters up to New Inn is disgusting.

"Some people just seem to think it is acceptable to flytip."