Fly-tipping in Newcastle and your duty of care
What Newcastle does about fly-tipping and what you must do when someone takes your waste, checked against Newcastle City Council pages on 29 October 2026.
- Fixed penalties are £250 to £700 for offences with low criminality
- Magistrates and judges can impose unlimited fines. The Crown Court maximum is 5 years in jail
- The council reports 1,925 prosecutions and 2,592 fixed penalty notices over 12 years
- Always check a carrier's registration number
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The penalties
Newcastle City Council says it uses fixed penalties of between £250 and £700, but only for offences with low criminality. Magistrates and judges can impose unlimited fines for fly-tipping, and in the Crown Court the maximum penalty is 5 years in jail and/or an unlimited fine. Using the tips for trade waste is a separate offence, with a fixed penalty of £400 to £700 or prosecution.
The council's record
Its fly-tipping page says that in the past 12 financial years, up to March 2026, it has taken 1,925 prosecutions and issued 2,592 fixed penalty notices. It lists prosecution, fixed penalty notices, enforcement notices, vehicle seizure and CCTV as its tools, and says it had seized 50 vehicles from fly-tippers and illegal waste carriers as of October 2023.
Duty of care
The council says the duty of care applies to all producers and other holders of waste. If you hand a written description of your waste to a carrier, you must keep a copy for at least 2 years. The pages we checked don't list a fine for a householder who fails to check a carrier, so we haven't quoted one.
How to check a carrier
- Ask for their waste carrier registration number and check it on the Environment Agency register
- Ask where the waste is going
- Get a written price and a waste transfer note, and keep it
- Be wary of cash-only offers from adverts with no company name
Reporting
Report fly-tipping on the council's website, or ring 0191 278 7878 for waste to be cleared. If you see it happening and a vehicle is involved, ring the police on 999 or 101. For hazardous waste or waste in or near a watercourse, ring the Environment Agency hotline on 0800 80 70 60. The council isn't responsible for clearing fly-tips on private land. Need a legitimate clear-out? See house clearance in Newcastle.