A second campaign to rid communities in Wirral of some of the most problematic areas for fly-tipping is now underway.

18 ‘grot spots’ have been earmarked for action after local councillors and partners nominated sites in their neighbourhoods – on either privately-owned or unregistered land -that had been particularly blighted by fly-tipping.

The council is reinvesting some of the proceeds received from littering fixed penalty notices to get these areas cleaned up as soon as possible, hiring contractors to do the work and, where possible, billing careless or unresponsive owners.

The latest phase of this campaign saw an unregistered area of land on Barton Street at the rear of Grange Road West in Birkenhead cleared.

This land had been suggested for clearance by the Birkenhead BID as it was blighted by fly-tipping, litter and overgrown vegetation and had a small derelict building next to it which was attracting anti-social behaviour.

Over a period of four days last week, work to clear the land and demolish the small structure took place and the area is now much improved, with the land no longer providing the seclusion and cover for the kind of activities that were taking place there previously.

Cllr Phillip Brightmore, cabinet member for environment, said: “The areas being targeted in this operation are all places which we know are used by prolific fly-tippers.

"They are not public areas, so the responsibility lies with landowners – not the council - to take measures to keep their land clear and secure.

“Many landowners take their responsibilities seriously and look after their land as best they can.

“However, in other problem areas – where a landowner has been difficult to identify or they’ve been unresponsive, or where the land is just unregistered - we’re using proceeds of littering fines to clean up our borough to the benefit of local communities.

“We will then seek to recover the costs wherever possible and take steps to deter future fly-tipping, including measures that will help the council to identify and prosecute anyone who does return and attempt to dump waste there again.

“We will not tolerate environmental crime.”