FLY tippers could soon face £400 instant fines in the York area after the number of cases soared to almost 1,300 in only nine months.

City of York Council is proposing a blitz on tippers who disfigure the city and surrounding countryside.

Council leader David Carr is being urged to give staff new powers to issue £400 penalty charge notices, reducing to £240 for early payment.

Fines for allowing dog fouling are also set to jump by 50 per cent to £75, and staff are set to be given powers to force dog owners to microchip their pets if they have been involved in anti-social behaviour such as attacks or fouling.

The proposals are outlined in a report by community safety manager Tanya Lyon to Cllr Carr's decision session next Monday.

It reveals that 1,298 cases of fly-tipping were reported across York in the nine months to January, an 11 per cent increase on the reported 1,164 cases of fly-tipping during the same period the previous year - a rise which reflects a national trend.

The report said that since May 9, new national regulations meant local authorities had the power to issue fixed penalty charges for small-scale fly-tipping/dumping of waste, which meant anything from a single bag to a small van load.

“The ability to issue an FPN will provide officers with a swifter response to this offence, avoiding the longer, more costly and resource intensive, prosecution route," it said.

“This will hopefully lead to an increase in enforcement action and act as a deterrent to those who may consider committing this offence.”

It said the ability to issue Fixed Penalty Notices avoided a potential criminal record for the perpetrator, although failing to comply with a notice was a criminal offence and could lead to prosecution.

The report said the average cost for clearing up fly-tips was in the region of £400, when the tipping charge, labour costs and removal of any hazardous waste were taken into account

It added that under new national legislation, all dog owners had been obliged since April to have their pet chipped but a number of animal welfare organisations, such as the RSPCA, PDSA and Dogs Trust, provided free or discounted services for low income pet owners, including micro-chipping.