Hundreds of “proactive” patrols have been conducted at fly-tipping hotspots in Renfrewshire as a task force bids to stop illegal dumping at the source.

A total of 679 visits to identified problem areas have been completed since the bespoke unit became operational in December, with 215 tonnes of waste removed and 35 fines handed out.

A breakdown of the data was included in a report to Tuesday’s communities and housing policy board, which provided an update on efforts to clamp down on the behaviour in the local authority area.

It revealed 623 reports have been investigated in that time, 34 letters sent to private landowners, 46 visits to businesses carried out and six sites secured to prevent further fly-tipping.

The task force inspects evidence left in bags, searches for potential witnesses among nearby residents and monitors CCTV camera footage as it tries to identify the culprits responsible for unsightly piles of rubbish.

Terry McTernan, chair of Ferguslie Community Council and project lead at Darkwood Crew, said in February the impact of the project was yet to filter down into the community.

However, he has since witnessed a change in that trend and said the work was beginning to have a meaningful effect in his area.

He said: “We’re actually starting to see a difference.

“We still experience problems with fly-tipping in Ferguslie because of the demolition in the Tannahill area.

“But as soon as the community council flagged that up, there have been efforts made to clean the area up and I’m assuming it must fall into the same directorate.

“Don’t get me wrong, there is still significant distance to travel but we are starting to see it now.

“Certainly any reports of fly-tipping are attended to almost immediately, which is a million miles away from how it used to be.”

The task force was the focus of a recent feature on BBC’s The One Show in late March, during which presenter Kevin Duala joined lead officer Nicola Drummond and her team on site to see how the issue is tackled.

She said at the time: “Using CCTV is a great way to monitor areas we know people fly-tip and we were able to show The One Show footage of a van driving down a dead-end road with a full load and then returning shortly after with it emptied.

“Unsurprisingly, we found the waste the next day dumped at the side of the road so this was clear evidence of the driver being caught red-handed.

“We’ll investigate whether we have other reports or instances of this van being used in other places to explore how we can issue the maximum penalty available.

“The only way that we’ll stop fly-tipping is by catching people and fining them, changing their behaviour, and making it clear to everyone that if you do this then you will be caught.

“Fly-tipping brings communities down, it’s terrible for our environment, and our wildlife as well as costing the council a lot of money, but I’m so proud of the work our team is doing and I’m looking forward to seeing it go from strength to strength.”

If someone is caught fly-tipping they could face a fixed penalty notice of £200 or, if taken to court, a fine of up to £40,000 or even imprisonment.