Fly-tipping on highways, footpaths and public land should be reported promptly (at any time) to Sevenoaks District Council on 01732 227000. (If out-of-hours, an automated message will tell you that the SDC offices are closed – but hang on until the end of their recorded message at which point you will get through to a real person in the Council’s CCTV Control Room.)

Please supply a description of the waste and approximate bulk (so that SDC know what size of lorry to send, and if there might be hazardous waste included) and its exact location (just naming a road may not be close enough for them to find easily, especially if there is a second heap of fly-tipping in the same road). It would be helpful to state exactly when you first spotted the waste as well, which might be of some use in tracking down a culprit.

Taking photographs is also good, but please do not put yourself at risk of being run over or of being assaulted. If you see the fly-tipping incident in progress you can dial 101 – but do still note a description of the vehicle and culprit(s), and the registration if not hidden; direction of travel; and date/time - provided it is safe to do so).

Please do not move the waste (unless it’s blocking your way) nor open sacks in order to try and find incriminating evidence, because if the rubbish is tampered with, it invalidates any evidence-gathering.

If the fly-tipping is on private land it is the responsibility of the land-owner only and there is little SDC can do to assist (unless there is a public health issue as well, and this would include the dumping of animal carcasses etc). The Council cannot investigate fly-tipping on private land - but where a landowner wishes to share evidence or information about possible offenders (for intelligence purposes only) they should call SDC on 01732 227000 during normal working hours.