Fines for dumping household rubbish and other waste are set to more than double in the battle to tackle fly-tipping.

Councillors have approved plans to increase the maximum cost of a fixed penalty notice in Thanet and keep the coastal district cleaner.

Members voted unanimously in favour of hiking fines by more than 58% at a meeting on February 29.

The upper limit for penalising someone guilty of the crime is currently £400 but the new policy, due to come into effect on April 1, will see that rise to £1,000.

In 2022, the local authority investigated 2,881 fly-tipping complaints – equal to almost eight per day - and prosecuted wrongdoers with a 78% success rate.

But over the course of the year, fly-tipping volumes across Thanet continued to rise.

During the cabinet meeting last week, Cllr Heather Keen (Lab) threw her weight behind the proposal.

“Having a clean and well-maintained environment remains important to the council and our residents,” said the ward member for Cliftonville West.

“We want to discourage fly-tipping. We’ll collect the fines where we need to but, we want behaviour change so the more communication around it the better.”

In 2023, KentOnline covered multiple instances of fly-tipping across the district, including a dumping hotspot in Margate that attracted vermin, and a pile of hardcore and bricks at a Ramsgate port.

Margate central representative Rob Yates, also voiced his support for the new fine levels at the cabinet meeting.

“I think this will be incredibly popular,” said the Labour councillor.

“Eight fly tips a day, and the amount of work involved in rectifying that just shows that it’s a big issue and we should be communicating this to the public to show that we’re on top of this.”

In a report published ahead of the cabinet meeting, council officers argued the current level of fines is too low and recommended raising them to the highest level permitted by law.

“The current level of fines are not acting as the intended deterrent,” the report said.

“Increasing the upper limit to the maximum allowed is in line with government guidance and is envisaged to be a strong deterrent as well as contributing to offsetting clearance costs.”

This comes after district bosses in Canterbury and Maidstone elected to hike their top fines for the crime last year.

In July, 2023, the government introduced new legislation which increased the maximum fly-tipping penalties from £400 to £1,000.

Several months later, Maidstone Borough Council bosses took advantage of the new rules, opting for the maximum fines in certain situations.

And in December, Canterbury City Council followed suit, similarly hiking their top fixed penalty notice charges for fly-tipping to £1,000.

A spokesperson for TDC said greater fines for fly-tipping is just part of the council’s strategy to keep the district cleaner.

“We take the issue of waste-related anti-social behaviour extremely seriously and residents can be confident that keeping our district safe and clean is a top priority for the council, and we will take enforcement action where we need to.

“We also use signs, leaflets and social media to remind residents and local businesses that fly-tipping is illegal and can lead to a fixed penalty notice or a criminal prosecution.

“There is CCTV at key locations in Thanet, which supports the work our team does to investigate these crimes.

“Members of the public must use registered waste carriers to dispose of their household waste. If not, they can be liable for fines or prosecution if it ends up being fly-tipped.

“Our Street Scene Enforcement Team deals with over 5,000 complaints of dumped rubbish and fly-tipping a year, and conducts daily patrols of known hot spots across the district.”