PENALTIES for homeowners who collude in fly-tipping are set to be introduced.

The National Assembly for Wales is expected to approve new rules allowing county councils and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to fine householders £300 for handing their waste "in good faith" to people not authorised to dispose of it who then fly-tip with it.

Currently, householders can only be issued with a fixed penalty notice if they fly-tip their domestic waste themselves.

In 2017-18, councils in Wales saw more than 35,000 incidents of fly-tipping, costing Welsh taxpayers £2million to clean up.

AM Andrew Davies, shadow minister for environment, said the penalty is a "step in the right direction". He said: “Fly-tipping is a huge cost to the Welsh taxpayer, blights the areas it occurs in, and poses substantial risks to the environment and human health.

“Enforcement will be crucial in tackling this scourge, but with the hollowing out of local government and Natural Resources Wales there is some doubt that there is enough boots on the ground to enforce these penalties.

“Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction and we await to see whether this successfully tackles the fly-tipping epidemic in Wales.”