New phone app for reporting pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled a new phone app to help people report incidents of environmental pollution.

The EPA's - See it? Say it! - app allows users take a photograph of a suspected pollution incident, input the GPS location co-ordinates and add brief description details.

The report will then be relayed to the relevant local authority, making it easier for those investigating to locate the problem.

The app, which was developed by Dublin-based web and mobile company Fusio, is designed to complement the EPA's 24-hour complaints phoneline.

It is currently only available for iPhones but an Android version is on the way.

"You can now report issues such as backyard burning, flytipping, water pollution, odours and littering by using the app or by phoning the complaints line," the EPA said.

EPA programme manager David Flynn: "We want to make it easy for people who 'See Something' to 'Say Something'".

"This app is another way for people to report environmental pollution incidents and we hope they will download and use the app's simple reporting methods to protect their local areas."

Joe Crockett of the county and city managers' association said: "The inclusion of GPS co-ordinates and photo imagery – and accurate information on location - will greatly assist the environment enforcement officers to rapidly respond to reported environmental complaints."