Crackdown on Welshpool yobs and fly-tippers

The council aims to fire home the message to schoolchildren, members of local organisations and the public in a bid to stamp out problems that the community has battled with in recent years.

As part of the plans, which were due to be discussed at a meeting of the town council last night, a working group could be set up, as well as literature and presentations delivered in the community.

It is hoped Dyfed-Powys Police and other organisations will get on board to help.

Town councillor Estelle Bleivas said, if approved, the campaign would be coming into force at a "crucial time" in the year for the town.

She said: "It's coming up to the prime tourist season, which is the most important time for us to get the message out there because we don't want tourists coming to a pig sty, we want them to be impressed by what Welshpool has to offer but I'm afraid they won't be if there's litter on the streets and dog poo left on the pavements.

"That's not the impression we want to give to our visitors.

"As a council, we are doing everything we can to put a stop to the problems with litter and anti-social behaviour.

"For example we've taken legal action to allow us to name and shame those responsible for fly-tipping, we're also soon to be purchasing body cameras for our staff but we have to look at prevention, too, and we believe this will help.

"If children are made aware from a young age, that what's been going on is wrong, it will be instilled into them and hopefully won't be a problem in the future."

In recent months, Welshpool has been blighted by issues with anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.

In one of the worst episodes of fly-tipping, almost 50 bags of illegally-dumped waste were discovered behind Welshpool Town Hall and the Foundry Lane area of the town.

Problems with anti-social behaviour in the town have also escalated in recent years, prompting Welshpool Town Council last year to launch a consultation to stop escalating crime and neighbourhood vandalism.

The consultation resulted in councillors manning a hotline number, monitoring a website and checking an incident book where instances of anti-social behaviour were reported.

In the coming weeks, the town council will also be purchasing a number of body cameras for workers, which will be used as an evidence gathering tool to help catch people who are littering, fly-tipping or engaging in anti-social behaviour.