Larne Harbour highway ‘littered with bottles of urine’, council is told

Now litter louts look set to be caught on camera after plans by the local council to set up surveillance following an upsurge in fly-tipping.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s director of Operations Philip Thompson told a meeting of the Direct Services Committee that lorry drivers leaving the ferry at Larne Harbour throw bottles of urine along the Harbour Highway.

“The whole Harbour Highway is littered with bottles of urine,” he said.

He indicated that a meeting has been arranged to look at how to identify those who have been littering.

Braid DUP Councillor Beth Adger MBE said she could not understand why this was happening when there are toilets on the boat.

“It is totally disgusting and then somebody has to lift it.”

Bannside TUV Stewart McDonald asked if anybody has been prosecuted for fly-tipping.

Mr Thompson noted that it was more likely to dealt with by a fixed penalty.

Mrs Adger remarked: “In some areas, they do not know what a bin is for and just throw rubbish beside somebody else’s house.”

The committee was told that 335 cases of littering were reported to the council between January 1 and July 31 compared to 260 during this period last year.

Forty-three fixed penalties have been issued this year compared to 30 during these months in 2019.

Almost half of all fly-tipping in the borough took place in Ballymena (48%),  30% in Carrickfergus and 22% in Larne. Twelve households in Ballymena received a warning letter and two in Carrickfergus.

The council says that enforcement in “known hotspots” continues to be a priority. Most dumped items included general household waste which peaked in April with the closure of household recycling centres during lockdown.

Other goods which were fly-tipped included furniture, carpet, clinical waste, PPE and dead animals.