People caught fly-tipping in Ealing are set to be hit by on-the-spot fines of £400 in a council bid to crackdown on the problem.

So far 111 fixed penalty notices have been given to fly tippers since the introduction of new wheelie bins on June 6.

But these were fines of £80 and from August 15 Ealing Council will up the penalty to £400.

The new fines come in addition to its existing efforts of giving one-on-one support to residents by door-knocking in areas where fly tipping is a problem.

Households that continue to dump black bags on the street after the visits are referred to the council's enforcement team.

'Appalling manner'

It follows a surge of fly tipping complaints from residents since new wheelie bins replaced a system of using bin bags from June 6 this year.

The council's environmental enforcement contractor, Kingdom, have also been patrolling the borough in an attempt to catch the culprits.

Cllrr Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for transport, environment and leisure, said: "The vast majority of residents and business are law abiding and care about the neighbourhood they live in.

"Like me, they are disgusted by the behaviour of the few people who feel they can act in an appalling manner by fly-tipping their rubbish rather than getting rid of it legally.

"If people are experiencing a problem using the rubbish and recycling service, help and support is available, but there is never any excuse for fly-tipping.

"That’s why we’ve increased the number of staff on the streets seeking to fine for this offence and deployed officers from Kingdom to catch the culprits.

"I ask residents to help us by being additional eyes and ears to identify those responsible so we can crack down on this selfishness."

Police operations

Council officers have also been running joint operations with the police and using resident reports, searching through dumped bags and using CCTV and mobile cameras to catch fly-tippers.

On one occasion, the council helped to catch fly-tippers dumping rubbish at a dentist in Southall following a series of complaints.

Council officers had visited the premises daily and searched through the rubbish before clearing them, and then using CCTV footage identified the culprits.

The offenders were caught in the act on one occasion and were issued with fixed penalty notices.

Last month the council announced that 55% of all household waste was recycled in the first month of the new recycling system.

It marked an increase from the 48% recorded during the same month last year, but there are accusations this is linked to an increase in uncollected fly tipping .

You can report cases of fly-tipping here .