An environmental activist has criticised a council’s new tool for people to report fly-tipping on social media, saying it “will be of no benefit” to older residents.

Waltham Forest Council rolled out an online system this week which allows people to report issues such as dog fouling and dumping by simply sending a Facebook message directly to street cleaners.

Although this will offer people an alternative to calling the council, James Phillips, 64 said it “doesn’t go far enough” to tackle the borough’s enviro-crimes.

“A lot of people I know who are in their 40s and 50s don’t have Facebook so it will be of no benefit to them,” said the retired business consultant of Aubrey Road, Walthamstow.

“I’m not running it down but I think it’s of limited use. The council could do much better.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

“There’s the fly-tipping problem and also the massage stickers going up on the poles.

“They’re all talk about the Borough of Culture which I think is wonderful and I’m in favour of it but you can’t have people living in a horrible, dirty, crime-ridden borough.”

After users send a Facebook message, a conversation with a chatbot will open which will guide them through the process of submitting a report.

Each report will be assigned a unique reference number and people can opt to receive updates on the cleaning process.

But Mr Phillips who founded Litter Action Waltham Forest in 2008 said it would be faster to use the LitterGram app which picks up the location of a fly-tip via satellite from a photo and alerts the local authority.

The campaigner, who reported 1,000 fly-tips to the Waltham Forest Council in the space of one year, said: “I would go out every morning and go through bags of dumped rubbish and get four or five name and addresses of people from banks statements.

“I report a fly-tip and it’s cleared but there’s another one there the next week.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

A recent fly-tip in Edison Close, which is managed by L&Q, took six weeks to be cleared. 

“Take for instance Edison Close in Walthamstow - the estate is a total mess.

“One young mother who lives there was crying with anger as she told me about having to step over dirty nappies on her walk to her car every morning.”

Last year, the council issued over 1,000 fines for fly-tipping.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for the Environment, said the authority is working closely with the borough’s residents to catch and fine fly-tippers.

He said: “No one wants to have to spend their time waiting on the phone trying to report a fly-tip or dog fouling.

“Our innovative new chatbot allows residents to quickly and easily make reports using their smartphones, tablets or computers at any time, from any place. It frees up resources and means we can focus on delivering the great service our residents expect and deserve.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

“We’re also asking for residents’ help to track down the litter louts who feel it is OK to dump their rubbish on our streets. By working together we can identify them, issue fines, and send a clear message - this behaviour is not welcome in Waltham Forest.”

A spokesman for L&Q which manages Edison Close said: “We have been working closely with Waltham Forest Council and Family Mosaic and the action we have taken so far includes increasing the number of bins, securing the bin store with a padlock, clearing all items of waste and litter from the area, erecting signage informing that CCTV is in operation and that fly-tippers will be prosecuted, writing to all tenants to inform them to dispose of waste responsibly and how to report fly-tipping.”