TIM DREW: Make sure you dispose of waste correctly

If so, and you need an outside agent to dispose of your garden waste – or any other category of waste, for that matter – please ensure that agent is a Registered Waste Carrier for your type of waste.

You are responsible for ensuring this, so ask to see the agent’s certificate, or alternatively check with the Environmental Agency on its national hotline (0800 807 060).

By taking these steps, you are both complying with your legal obligations and helping to minimise the possibility of fly-tipping.

Fly-tipping is not only unsightly, but also illegal and potentially dangerous, with an estimated £150million annually spent on investigation and removal by local councils and private landowners.

If you see anyone fly-tipping or wish to report an instance where fly-tipping has taken place, then please note the time, date and place of the discovery; the appearance and quantity of the waste; and any vehicular description.

If not much has been dumped, then this can be reported online via the Adur & Worthing Councils’ website, but a large-scale incident should be reported to the Environmental Agency on 0800 807 060.

If you are in any doubt as to the scale of the incident, please contact Worthing & Adur first before reporting it.

Meanwhile, Neighbourhood Watch advises that more than 20 Patcham residents have recently received aggressive and threatening telephone calls from fraudsters purporting to be from HMRC, telling them that they owe tax in the region of £3,000 and proposing a meeting at a Brighton location for it to be paid.

If you receive one of these calls, please immediately telephone 101 or report it to Sussex Police via their website.