We are committed to ensuring that public spaces and highways are kept free from litter. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities have a statutory duty to provide clean streets, footways and open spaces that are in public ownership.
All towns and villages are divided up into “zones” with the busiest being cleaned more regularly.
Fly-tipping
Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste, find out more on our fly-tipping pages.
Litter
If you notice litter which affects the road or pathway, please report this to us.
A fixed penalty of £150 can be issued to anyone committing an offence of depositing litter (including cigarette ends and chewing gum) under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Spillages
If you notice spillages which affects the road or pathway, please report this to us.
Report a waste collection spillage
For further information, please see our Environmental Crime Enforcement Policy:
Fuel spillage and mud from farming vehicles will usually be the responsibility of the police or Highways Authority.
Graffiti
ECSS will remove offensive graffiti from private property, free of charge, with the landowner’s permission and aim to remove it within 48 hours. Non offensive graffiti on private land is the responsibility of the landowner to remove. For graffiti on utility boxes please contact the owner.
BT Openreach: 0800 023 2023
Virgin media: 0345 454 1111
Full litter or dog waste bin
Every effort is made to empty litter and dog waste bins on a regular basis. However, if you see any over-flowing litter or dog waste bins, please report on our online form.
Report a full litter or dog waste bin
Report dog fouling for removal
Needles and drug litter
It is very important that you contact us immediately if you find drug related litter. Please do not attempt to remove it yourself. You can call 01353 665555, during normal office hours, or 0845 456 4564 (Cambridgeshire Constabulary) out of hours.
We also offer an online drug paraphernalia report form, but please note that this will only be picked up within normal office hours.
Collection of dead animals
Report a dead animal on the highway
We can only remove a dead animal from the public highway and not on private land. The landowner is responsible for the removal of animals from private land.
Mud on the roads
Mud on A-roads need to be reported to the Police. Please visit Cambridgeshire Constabulary to submit an online report.
Any instances where mud has been taken onto B-roads, please contact Cambridgeshire Highways to report a fault or call 0345 0455 212.
Vehicle operators, contractors and farmers who deposit mud on the road are potentially liable for a range of offences. This guidance is not a complete statement of the law or of your responsibilities and possible liabilities.
Concerns relating to health and safety aspects of farms and road traffic would fall under the Health and Safety Executive.
Love Your Street
Love Your Street is all about making East Cambridgeshire a cleaner, greener place to be. We are all responsible for looking after the communities in which we live.
By tackling littering, recycling more and reporting environmental crime, such as fly-tipping or graffiti we can make our towns and villages more desirable and nicer places to live.
Keeping our streets clean also helps the environment and keeps streets safer, especially for children and animals.
We can all make a personal commitment to keep our streets cleaner. Please take a moment to take the Love Your Street pledge. By completing the pledge and signing up to receive information and advice you will be joining other residents, businesses, organisations, councillors, and council staff who have all committed to a cleaner, greener East Cambridgeshire.
Taking the Love Your Street survey will help us identify what is important to you as a resident in East Cambridgeshire and help us identify littering hot spots so we can tackle these in the future. The survey only takes a few minutes and you could win a £50 shopping voucher.
Schools and community groups
If you are interested in your school or community group getting involved with our Love Your Street campaign, please email us on contactus@eastcambs.gov.uk and we will be in touch soon.
Become a #LoveYourStreetHero
Everyone can become a #LoveYourStreetHero. We want to empower everyone to collect litter in their area safely and effectively, create a better environment on their doorstep and inspire change within their community.
Join a litter picking group:
- Ely Litter Pickers
- Ely Cathedral Litter Pick
- Fordham Timebank
- Sustainable Haddenham Facebook group
- Littleport Litter Pickers
- Little Downham and Pymoor Litter Pickers
- Soham Community Association Facebook group
Borrow litter picking equipment
Equipment such as litter pickers, hoops and rubbish bags, as well as high visibility vests and gloves are available to borrow from ECSS using our litter pick equipment booking request.
Alternatively, you can buy litter picking equipment from Keep Britain Tidy.
As part of the support provided to groups, ECSS collects waste which has been picked up and supplies stickers to mark collected litter so it is not mistaken as fly-tipping. Download the litter picking guide for groups.
Become a dog walking #LoveYourStreetHero
29% of all UK adults have a dog - that is equivalent to 19,000 people in East Cambridgeshire. We are inviting as many dog walkers as possible to become a #LoveYourStreetHero. It is a simple idea - while walking your dog, you can use it as an opportunity to litter pick at the same time, helping to keep our communities tidier.