John Dwyer, Cheshire's former Police and Crime Commissioner, has praised last night's BBC TV Panorama revelations on fly tipping ahead of Cheshire East Council making a final decision on the future of Congleton's tip.

Shockingly the programme, "Rubbish Dump Britain", filmed vast piles of waste and flagrant open illegal burning of toxic substances in farmers' fields among other blights on the English countryside.

It reported in excess of a million recorded cases of fly tipping in England in the most recent recorded year. But only one in 300 cases were prosecuted and half the councils in the country failed to prosecute any fly tippers.

Hundreds of thousands more offences go unrecorded annually and the TV programme produced concrete evidence that the Environment Agency's licensing system for "authorised" waste disposal operators was inadequate.

It showed all you have to do to register is pay the licence fee and, as an example, the programme tracked a rogue operator, ostensibly legal, who turned out to be a fly tipper.

Dwyer, a former assistant chief constable of the county is standing in this year's PCC election.

He said: "I would be interested to hear if Cheshire East Council will continue with their plan to close Congleton's household waste and recycling centre now that they have seen that TV programme.

"It is quite clear that a shortage of proper waste disposal tips encourages fly tipping. I want to hear from the Congleton public on this issue.

"I shall then ensure that their views are reflected in my manifesto and, if elected, those views will be transferred into my Policing Plan.

"What we saw on that programme was awful and not having a household waste and recycling centre will only make matters worse for Congleton."

Mr Dwyer continued: "This disjointed attitude affects other parts of Cheshire East plus the three other main local authorities in the county, Halton, which governs Runcorn & Widnes, Warrington North & South and Cheshire West.

"I am committed to talking this through straightforwardly with all the local authorities and with the Environment Agency – all of us together – to work out a plan for effective action on this very important issue."

A Freedom of Information request made to Cheshire East Council by a Nantwich newspaper in September showed that in 2019/20, two fines for fly tipping were issued but only one was paid.

Dwyer retired from the Cheshire Constabulary in 2001 after a 30-year career.

He was a councillor on Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council between 2003 and 2009 and served as strategic board member with responsibility for safer communities between 2006 and 2009.

Following retirement, he developed business interests, specialising in security and management consultancy and was trustee and secretary of the Drugwatch Trust and trustee of the Sanctuary for Veterans.

In 2016, Labour's David Keane ousted Dwyer as the sitting PCC and Conservative candidate to become the new Cheshire Police and Crime commissioner.

In a close-run contest, Keane was elected on a count of second preference votes and polled 84,601 votes when first and second preferences were added. Dwyer polled 81,652 votes.

• To let John Dwyer know what you think about the fly tipping scandal or the future of the Congleton tip, post on his Facebook page or email him via that page.