A KILMARNOCK councillor has slammed ‘embarrassing’ fly-tipping on a popular shopping street.

Councillor Graham Boyd was walking along Bank Street where he noticed the piles of rubbish lying outside the New Laigh Kirk church.

After discovering the dumped items on Sunday, September 15, he took to Facebook to voice his opinion.

He said: “It’s beyond embarrassing, really do you want to shop in a street that looks like this? What do the shop and business owners in this street think?

“I, along with other town centre councillors, keep bringing this up and requesting improvements but to no avail. I don’t see this in other town centres. We need to get to the root of the problem and stop this dumping and fly-tipping.”

A spokesperson for East Ayrshire Council said: "East Ayrshire Council shares the concerns of local residents and businesses about fly-tipping, which negatively impacts any community where it takes place and has caused concern recently in Kilmarnock town centre. Fly-tipping is illegal, carries a fixed penalty of £500 and can result in prosecution.

“Local people are being urged to help stamp out this poor behaviour by reporting any incidents using our online portal. This enables the council’s environmental crime and greener communities services to work together to take enforcement and clean-up action.  

“We would also advise households to dispose of their waste responsibly particularly because the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 introduces new powers to issue fixed penalty notices direct to householders relating to the ‘duty of care’. This means that it is the householder’s responsibility to check the credentials of any ‘man with a van’ they ask to remove waste. 

"Householders should ask if they are registered as a waste carrier and see a card that proves this registration. The waste carrier must tell you which waste site they intend to take your waste to. If the price seems too good to be true, it very likely is.”