How CSI tactics are fighting the fly-tippers

How CSI tactics are fighting the fly-tippers4 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleGabby ColensoEast investigationsGabby Colenso/BBCLaura Haydon says fly-tipping is widespread across LutonYellow tape marked "Crime scene – Do not enter" seals off part of a residential street.Investigators wearing protective clothing and gloves are searching among the black bags, broken furniture and scattered waste for clues.Is this the scene of a violent crime?"I've seen tape go across with cones, looking like someone's been murdered here," says Laura Haydon, who lives nearby."It's not – it's just a mattress."Gabby Colenso/BBCLuton Council is using yellow tape to seal off fly-tipping sites as part of a new strategyLast September, Luton Council began trialling a new approach to tackling fly-tipping: treating dump sites as conventional crime scenes and employing enforcement officers to search through waste for evidence – a torn delivery label, a prescription slip, an address hidden inside a cardboard box – that could identify who is responsible.In this instance, the waste is a discarded bed frame and other furniture, dumped on a street of redbrick terraced houses off the town's Dallow Road.Nearby are bins overflowing with rubbish, and waste including sofas, toys and prams blocks the pavement.Gabby Colenso/BBCNaveed Shakoor says living with fly-tipping "drains you mentally"Dealing with fly-tipping has become a "constant battle" for Naveed Shakoor, who has lived in the neighbourhood for most of his life."There are syringes, dead rats and mice everywhere," he says."It feels like leaving your back door open. You don't know what could come into your house."When you're trying to work hard and provide for your children, living like this completely drains you mentally."SuppliedLocal authorities in England dealt with 1.26 million fly-tipping incidents in 2024-25Luton, roughly 30...