THE ongoing fight against fly- tipping in Tendring will be highlighted in a new television series launched this week.

Tendring District Council (TDC) will appear in four episodes of BBC1’s Filthy Rotten Scoundrels to be broadcast later this month.

The show highlights the issues surrounding what has become one of the fastest-growing illegal activities plaguing Britain every day.

Leopard Films, the production company behind the series, spent several days with council staff and filmed Lynda McWilliams, the councillor for the environment, earlier this year.

“This council takes the problem of fly-tipping very seriously indeed and will not rest in its battle to stamp it out and to bring those responsible to book,” Cllr McWilliams said.

“I am pleased that the hard work of our staff is to feature in this programme, and shows what they have to deal with on a daily basis.”

There were 732 incidents of fly-tipping in Tendring last year, which was 8% down on the 796 of the previous year. The illegal activity cost the council about �75,000 to clear between April 2009 and March 2010.

TDC appointed Darren Weaver, a special investigations officer, to tackle fly-tipping in 2009.

His work, along with other members of the environmental services team, was filmed for the programme as he tried to track down those responsible for dumping their waste around the district. Mr Weaver said: “I found it very worthwhile taking part in the series which will help highlight the issue of fly-tipping which blights many areas of the UK.

“We are doing all we can to trace those responsible to get them to pay for the clear-up of their waste or take them before the courts for prosecution.”

More than 3,000 fly-tipping incidents happen each day and with landfill taxes more than quadrupling in the last decade, the unlawful dumping of rubbish is causing real concern for hundreds of local councils across the UK.

Filthy Rotten Scoundrels goes undercover to investigate the criminals at work, through sting operations and 24-hour surveillance, to catch some of Britain’s most notorious fly-tippers.

TDC will appear in episodes, starting at 11am, on September 23, 28, 29 and 30.