Cheshire East is one of 26 councils to receive a share of a £1 million government pot to tackle fly-tipping and help protect communities.

The grants have been awarded to support various schemes to crackdown on criminals who dump rubbish in towns and the countryside.

In Cheshire East it is understood the cash will be used to provide handheld devices to street enforcement officers for remote working, helping to increase the time officers can spend on the streets talking to residents.

Cllr Janet Clowes, leader of the Conservative group on Cheshire East Council, welcomed the extra funding.

"Fly-tipping remains a significant issue across the borough, in both rural and urban area," she said.

"In the light of recent charges approved by Cheshire East's Labour-led administration to introduce green waste charging whilst at the same time seeking to close three household waste and recycling centres, fly-tipping is already on the rise so this targeting funding is welcome."

Following complaints from residents about garden waste being dumped on an alleyway on a Crewe estate, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked the council at the end of April how many reports it had received about fly-tipping of garden waste this year since the green bin charge was introduced, which towns have been most affected and how much it has cost the council so far this year to clean up garden waste fly-tipping.

The reported dumped garden waste was cleared within a day but the council has not responded to any of the questions.

The LDRS asked Cheshire East on Tuesday how much cash the council had received from the government grant and also for clarification about the devices and how they would help the fight against fly-tipping.

To date, there has been no response.