FLY-TIPPERS have been caught on camera dumping empty cooking oil cans in a ditch. Cameras were set up by a landowner after a previous incident along the same stretch of road.

Although the quality of the pictures is not good, it captures the moment the fly-tippers committed the offence at 7.05a.m. last Saturday. It happened not far from the main A38, along the B3391 near Culmstock.

A nearby land owner, who does not want to be named for fear of intimidation, says he has reported the incident to the police with the evidence and they are ‘looking into it.’

He has also informed the district council but the oil cans were still there on Wednesday, on land which is part of the public highway. Altogether, 13 five-gallon cans were thrown by the roadside.

A spokesman for Mid-Devon District Council said: “We would investigate the incident and decide what course of action to take. If it is on public land we will remove it. If it is on private land it is the responsibility of the landowner.”

Earlier this month fly-tippers dumped Christmas wrapping and rotten food at Wellington Cemetery which was quickly cleared by the district council. No-one has been charged with the offence, which is not the first such case at the cemetery.

Councils have promised to take fly-tipping more seriously but few cases come to court. Offenders in the most serious incidents can be fined £50,000 or even sent to prison. In the incident on the B3391, the registration number of the Mercedes van has been given to police.