Skips will need a permit from Birmingham council

Nov 21 2009 by Neil Elkes, Birmingham Mail

THOUGHTLESS builders, DIY enthusiasts and landscape gardeners who drop an estimated 80,000 skips on Birmingham’s pavements and grass verges every year have been warned to get a permit under a new scheme being launched by the city council.

Each year grass verges are gouged up, paving stones smashed and road surfaces cracked by skips, leaving taxpayers to pay for repairs.

Now fed-up council bosses have launched a new permit scheme to tackle the problem and have vowed to remove any skips dropped on public highways without permission and take sanctions against persistent offenders.

The permits, which come into force from next April, will cost £10 and allow the owner to place a skip in a location for seven days.

Other West Midlands councils already operate permit schemes, including Solihull, Sandwell and Dudley.