I found this app accidentally. I’m not sure how long it’s been around, but it is amazingly easy to use. If you have a smartphone, as most of us do, I strongly recommend installing the Love Clean Streets app. 

It was a damp Wednesday morning, and I was out on my own. I walked over to Saddington along the Leicestershire Round, and headed down the muddy path towards the canal feeder. Here I met a lovely lady named Heather who warned me that it was rather slippery in places. She is a runner, but had to slow to a walk.

After a lovely chat, I continued on my way and eventually found myself by the reservoir. Here I met Martin and Emma, and stopped for a while. Martin is a volunteer for the Canal and River Trust and is a very knowledgeable and capable person. Emma was interested to hear about Fleckney Walking Club.

Eventually, I continued on my way along the road to Saddington and just after the bridge, I spotted some rubbish that had been fly-tipped. I took a photo and logged the location using What3Words so that I could report it to the council when I got home.

At home, after a coffee and drying-off session, I googled how to report fly-tipping in Leicester – instead of Leicestershire. Normally, I would get Harborough District Council, log in, and make my report. Google sent me to Leicester.gov.uk instead, and their page on Love Clean Streets.

With my curiosity piqued, I downloaded the app and created a profile. It took less than a minute.

Thinking this was just for “streets”, I decided to log the fly-tipping I had spotted earlier. I moved the map so that the pin was over the correct spot and added the photo I had taken earlier. I didn’t have to tell the app it was a fly-tip; it worked that out for itself. I added a brief description and pressed the button.

The next stage was to confirm my email address; this only needs to happen once. And there we have it.

A little later, I checked on my report and discovered it had been sent to Harborough District Council. Job done!

Now, whenever I spot more fly-tipping, I have the means to photograph it and instantly report it in a matter of seconds. If you install the Love Clean Streets app, you can do the same.