“There is nowhere safe for you to dump rubbish illegally in Croydon anymore.”

That’s the message from Croydon Council after 44 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) were issued by a new taskforce set up to tackle fly-tipping.

Launched in April, the taskforce is among the latest initiatives from Don’t Mess with Croydon (DMWC), council’s campaign to clean up streets and public spaces.

The new team focuses solely on fly-tipping, using intelligence from residents and agencies to carry out covert operations in areas with a history of fly-tips.

Councillor Stuart Collins was pleased to have a taskforce with the sole purpose of tackling fly-tipping.

“You will be caught and you will be fined or prosecuted,” he said.

“Since the start of DMWC, we have adopted a zero-tolerance approach to people who fly-tip on our streets.

“The council’s borough-wide enforcement teams have already issued 435 FPNS for flytipping and 538 for littering offences between April 2016 and the end of May 2017.”

Of the 44 FPNS the taskforce has issued since April, 33 were as a result of a night-time operation on May 19 and 20 Selhurst.

A similar operation has already been carried out Bensham Manor, with results available soon.

The team will be carrying out similar exercises across the borough.

Croydon Council has also recently introduced £400 FPNs for the more serious fly-tipping offences. To date seven of these FPNs have been issued.