Carmarthenshire County Council has written about what it’s like for their litter enforcement officers, highlighting some clear differences from Pembrokeshire.

Enforcement officers being able to investigate fly-tipping was one of the biggest differences between the two counties.

A Carmarthenshire council spokesperson said sorting through dumped rubbish by hand was “all in a day’s work” for council environmental enforcement officers.

They said: “Dirty nappies, mouldy food, glass, clothes, adult toys and a dead guinea pig are just some of the items that officers have been faced with when having to dispose of people’s abandoned rubbish.

“This is just a small part of the seven-day-a-week service provided by Carmarthenshire County Council enforcement officers.

“Ensuring the environment is protected is vital and means patrolling in all weathers to look for things like illegal rubbish dumping and dealing with people who are caught breaking the law.

“Some 80 per cent of litter on our streets is cigarette butts. The ends can take up to 12 years to break down, they can be eaten by children and animals and can contaminate water supplies because they contain plastic fibres and toxic chemicals, such as cadmium, lead and zinc which leach into the soil and waterways.”

Fly-tipping was something the team at District Enforcement, who deal enforcement in Pembrokeshire, said they wanted to investigate when they took on the litter enforcement in 2018.

Carmarthenshire officers carry out investigative work including preparing cases for court action, for example someone failing to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Officers in both counties are equipped with the latest digital technology, including body cameras, for the protection of both offender and officer.

David Jones is one of eight environmental enforcement officers in Carmarthenshire covering 3,000km of roads with a population of 183,000.

He said: “The majority are pretty much reasonable when we approach them especially when we tell them we have them on camera committing an offence. People just need to be mindful that we are doing a job just like they go about doing theirs.”

Catching fly tippers in the act can be difficult for officers so they heavily rely on the help of the public’s help.

David said: “When we’ve had a complaint in via email or telephone from a member of the public about rubbish being dumped illegally we go out to visit the site and more often than not are faced with a lot of mess.

“It’s not only our job to track down the carrier but we have to dispose of their rubbish appropriately. This means going through each bag and sorting out every item, by hand.

He added: “Dropping litter is not only unsightly it can kill. One piece of litter can travel through the environment, often through drainage systems and watercourses, potentially killing numerous animals and polluting the local built and natural environment.”

Officers in Carmarthenshire also deal with all highway offences, such as skips and scaffolding, with abandoned cars high up on the number of complaints received. However, not all are quite what they seem.

He said: “We get calls from people who are not happy that someone living nearby has parked their car outside their property so they tell us it’s abandoned in the hope we can do something about it.

“So a lot of time can be wasted in carrying out checks to find out if this is the case.

“If a car is parked there legally then there is nothing we can do about it.