Nearly 500 fines have been handed out to people dumping waste wrongly and fly tipping in Glasgow over the last year.

And four civil cases making those responsible potentially pay larger sums of money are currently in progress in the city, a meeting heard.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly wants to see heavier fines for those responsible. He believes civil penalties are the way forward as penalty notices are not enough at £500 per ticket.

READ MORE: Anger at 'broken promise' to eradicate fly-tipping site six months ago

The convenor for neighbourhood services and assets made the comments as he was responding to a question from Labour councillor Patricia Ferguson at a council meeting yesterday.

(Image: Newsquest)

SNP councillor Kelly said: "In the year up to May 1 almost 500 penalties were issued for domestic and commercial waste and fly tipping offences in the city."

He said officers identify and target hot spots and officials work with housing providers, the police, charities and residents through “weeks of action.”

He said: “We would encourage residents to report any incidents of illegal dumping that they witness.

“This is often vital in targeting those responsible. Crucially engagement routinely takes place with SEPA and Police Scotland in dealing with certain aspects of fly tipping where organised crime is a factor.

“Civil penalties for fly tipping recently introduced by SEPA can be of higher monetary values than the criminal £500 fixed penalty notices issued by the council. Four such cases are processing with SEPA for fly tipping in the city.

"This work is at an early stage but it is a promising additional means of dealing with more serious causes of fly tipping.”

READ MORE: Just 51 fly-tippers referred to prosecutors despite 284,762 reports

Councillor Ferguson said there “still seems to be a large number of hotspots certainly in my ward” and elsewhere, which would suggest “we are not quite on top of that particular issue yet.”

(Image: Newsquest)

She added: “The fly tipping that occurs becomes a real blight on an area and can really affect the way in which people live their lives. I would be grateful if more attention was given to areas, which are known to be hotspots and to try and eradicate that particular problem once and for all. ”

READ MORE: Calls for CCTV as fly-tippers dump 'dangerous pills'

Responding, councillor Kelly said: “I would 100 per cent agree it is a huge problem across the city. It is one of the most frustrating problems as it does cause a massive impact on the communities.”

He pointed out how when council teams crack down on fly tipping hotspots criminal gangs, responsible for most of the issues, then find somewhere else.

He said: “It just moves to another place – we are almost chasing our tails.”

He is calling for stronger sanctions and has raised the issue with the Scottish Government.

He continued: “I would be happy to see the vehicles crushed of those caught fly tipping in our city.”