You can use the contact details here to tell your local council about about the following issues:

• Littering

• Flytipping

• Fly posting

• Graffiti

• Dog fouling

By informing your local Council about these issues, you help them by drawing their attention to issues they may not know about, and let them know how important the quality of the environment you live and work in is to you. If a council is not listed, they have not provided us with contact details, but you can still call their general enquiries number and explain that you want to talk to someone about your issue.

Be careful to check that the place you are concerned about is not private land or the Council may not be able to act without the landowner's consent. Graffiti and flyposting in particular are difficult for Councils to deal with as they are often on private property, but if you are unsure you should phone the council in any case. Many departments are only open during normal business hours, 9am-5pm weekdays.

			Local environmental issue contact details
Council	Issue	Who to ask for		Can I remain anonymous	Can I get feedback on the case	Preferred way to contact them	Phone number	Email address
Antrim	All	Fergus Mackay		No	Yes	Email	028 9446 3113	fergus.mackay@antrim.gov.uk
Ards	Littering; fly-tipping; dog fouling	Borough Inspector		No	Yes	Phone	02891 824042 / 43 / 45
Armagh	All	Environmental Services		No	Yes	Phone	028 3752 9600
Ballymena	Littering	John Lorimer or Joe anderson		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 2566 0467 / 028 2566 0330	john.lorimer@ballymena.gov.uk joe.anderson@ballymena.gov.uk
	fly-tipping; fly-posting; graffiti; dog fouling	Nigel Devine		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 2566 0389	nigel.devine@bellymena.gov.uk
Ballymoney	Littering; Fly-tipping; Dog fouling	Karen Mitchell				Phone	028 2766 0257
	Fly-posting; Graffiti	Joanne McLaughlin				Phone or email	028 2766 0238	joanne.mclaughlin@ballymoney.gov.uk
Banbridge	Littering; fly-tipping; fly-posting; dog fouling	Environmental Health		No	Yes	Phone	028 4066 0606	eh@banbridge.gov.uk
	Graffiti	Technical Services		No	Yes	Phone	028 4066 0604	ts@banbridge@gov.uk
Belfast	All	Customer Contact Centre		No	Yes	Phone	028 9027 0230
Carrickfergus	All	Customer Contact Centre		No	Yes	Phone	028 9335 8000
Castlereagh	Littering; Dog fouling	Environmental Health		No	Yes	Phone	028 9049 4640	environmentalhealth@castlereagh.gov.uk
	Fly-tipping; Fly posting; Graffiti	Technical & Environmental Services		No	Yes	Phone	028 9049 4600
Coleraine	Littering; Flytipping	Gary Leighton		No	Yes	Phone	028 7034 7272	gary.leighton@colerainebc.gov.uk
	Dog Fouling	Catherine McNally		No	Yes	Phone	028 7034 7196	catherine.mcnally@colerainebc.gov.uk
	Fly-posting; Graffiti	Tommy Neill		No	Yes	Phone	028 7034 7272	tommy.neill@colerainebc.gov.uk
Cookstown	All	Environmental Health		Yes	No	Phone or email	028 8676 2205	envhealth@cookstown.gov.uk
Craigavon	All	Customer Complaints Service		No	Yes	Phone	028 3833 9031
Derry	Littering; Fly-tipping; Fly-posting	Siobhan Fitzgerald				Phone	077 1306 8545	siobhan.fitzgerald@derrycity.gov.uk
	Graffiti	Jim McGrath				Phone	077 1306 8553	jim.mcgrath@derrycity.gov.uk
	Dog fouling	Dog Wardens				Phone	028 7136 5151
Down	All	Environmental Health		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 4461 0823	envhealth@downdc.gov.uk
Dungannon and South Tyrone						Not supplied
Fermanagh	All	Gavin Mannix		Yes	Yes	Phone or email	028 6632 3533	gavin.mannnix@fermanagh.gov.uk
Larne	All	Environmental Health		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 2827 2313	ehealth@larne.gov.uk
Limavady	Littering; Fly-tipping; Dog fouling	Tom Keogh				Phone	028 7776 0302	tom.keogh@limavady.gov.uk
	Fly-posting; Graffiti	Martin McNicholl				Phone	028 7776 0305	martin.mcnicholl@limavady.gov.uk
Lisburn	Littering; Fly-tipping; Fly-posting; Graffiti	Technical Services				Phone	028 9250 9250
	Dog fouling	Environmental Health				Phone	028 9250 9250
Magherafelt						Not supplied
Moyle	Littering; Graffiti	Technical Services - Sean McQuillan		Yes	Yes	Phone or email	028 2076 2225	seanmcquillan@moyle-council.org
	Fly-tipping; Fly-posting; Dog fouling	Environmental Health - Martin McHenry		Yes	Yes	Phone or Email	028 2076 2225	martinmchenry@moyle-council.org
Newry and Mourne	Littering: Fly-tipping; Fly-posting; Dog fouling	Environmental Health		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 3031 3100	ehealth@newryandmourne.gov.uk
	Graffiti	Liam Dinsmore		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 3031 3233	liam.dinsmore@newryandmourne.gov.uk
Newtownabbey	Littering; fly-tipping; dog fouling	Environmental Health		No	Yes	Not supplied	02890340160	peland@newtownabbey.co.uk
North Down	All	Enforcement section of Environmental Health		Yes	Yes	Phone or email	028 9127 8068	enforcement@northdown.gov.uk
Omagh	All	Tim Foley- Environmental Health		No	Yes	Not supplied	028 82245321	tim.foley@omagh.co.uk
Strabane	Littering; Graffiti	Malcolm Scott		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 7138 1316	mscott@strabanedc.com
	Fly-tipping; Fly-posting	Patrick Walsh		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 7138 2204	pwalsh@strabanedc.com
	Dog fouling	Mark Hegarty		No	Yes	Phone or email	028 7138 2204	mahegarty@strabanedc.com
NIEA	Water Pollution Hotline					Phone	0800 80 70 60

Littering, dumping rubbish in a layby, spraying graffiti and other activities might seem like relatively harmless acts, but they aren't: they are crimes. The unfortunate thing is that these crimes are so widespread that the few officers in Northern Ireland who are tasked with dealing with them are hopelessly overwhelmed. With rates of littering up almost 50% in 2011, we clearly need to find a new way to discourage these behaviours. One of the simplest and most effective methods is report it if you see someone commit these crimes.

Most councils will be happy to speak to you and, if you can give enough information, will generally issue the offender with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). This is not a criminal charge, and does not result in a criminal record; it is simply a kind of fine and is generally £50.

What you can do to maximise the likelihood of a successful case is to ensure you have as much of the necessary information as possible when you report someone. An easy way to remember what you need to record is to use the "Turnbull guidelines", otherwise known as ADVOKATE:

A the Amount of time you spent observing the activity

D the Distance you were from the act

V how good was the Visibility - how clearly could you see the act

O where there any Obstructions to your view - people, trees, etc

K was the person Known to you before the act

A were there Any other reasons to recognise / remember

T what Time elapsed before you were able to make notes

E what Errors might you have made in recording this information

If you can record some information under each of these headings, you will have created the best possible chance of building a successful case.

Once you have this information you can send it to your local council. In order to find the right number to call or address to email, we have a list of contacts on our website you can use to report an issue.

Most councils will ask you to complete a written statement, but they will help you to do this.

Should the offender decide that they want to contest the charge then the council will take them to court, in which case you will very likely be called as a witness. You shouldn't worry about this, the council solicitor will speak to you beforehand to make sure you are comfortable and have all your information ready and assist you in the courtroom.