BOROUGH residents have been warned not to increase the risk of fly-tipping by paying rogue traders to take away their garden waste this summer.

Environmental bosses at Dudley Council are urging people to ensure that anyone collecting any kind of waste from their property is a registered waste carrier, who will dispose of the rubbish responsibly.

The call comes during the busy summer period when people are carrying out gardening work such as cutting back trees and hedges and looking to dispose of large amounts of waste.

Councillor Hilary Bills, cabinet member for environment and culture, said: “Paying someone to take it away who is not registered is likely to lead to the rubbish being fly-tipped, which leads to a cost to the taxpayer for it to be cleared up.”

Residents are also encouraged to use the fortnightly green waste recycling collection to dispose of smaller garden waste or visit the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Birmingham Street, Stourbridge.

The recycling centre is open from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm on weekends throughout the summer.

For further details on registered waste carriers people should contact the Environment Agency on 08708 506506 or visit www.gov.uk/environment-agency.

Alternatively people can call the council on 0300 555 2345.