Local councils across the country have dealt with a record number of fly-tipping incidents, according to the latest government data.
New figures from the Environment Department (Defra) showed local authorities in England dealt with 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents in 2023/24.
That is an increase of 6 per cent from the 1.08 million the previous year and the highest level in the six years since the current method for reporting was brought in.
However, countryside leaders warned the problem was even greater than the figures suggest as they only include rubbish dumped on public land, while farmers and rural businesses face stress, disruption and “staggering” costs to clear up waste illegally left on private land.
Last year, some 60 per cent of cases involved household waste, with 688,000 incidents of illegally dumped rubbish from homes, ranging from black bags of waste to the contents of shed clearances, furniture, carpets and DIY.
The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on pavements and roads, accounting for 37 per cent of incidents.
The Independent has put together the map below which shows the number of fly-tipping incidents in each local authority in England.
Nearly all of the ten worst areas for fly-tipping were London boroughs, with Croydon in South London taking the top spot. More the 35,000 fly-tipping incidents were recorded in the area from 2023-2024.
Oadby and Wigston in Leicestershire was the local council with the least number of fly-tipping incidents.
Across the country, nearly a third (31 per cent) of incidents were the size of a small van load, while 28 per cent were the equivalent of a car boot or less of rubbish.
But 4 per cent were the size of a tipper lorry load or larger, with large fly-tipping incidents costing £13.1 million for councils to clean up, the figures show.
The figures also reveal a slight drop in the number of enforcement actions, with fixed-penalty notices and court fines both down on the previous year.
The ten local authorities with the most fly-tipping incidents
- Croydon – 35,470
- Camden – 34,786
- Hackney – 33,464
- Nottingham – 30,511
- Lewisham – 27,599
- Hounslow – 27,241
- Brent – 27,023
- Westminster – 25,531
- Southwark – 22,912
- Liverpool – 20,003
Local authorities with the least fly-tipping incidents
- Oadby and Wigston – 12
- Rutland – 121
- Amber Valley – 216
- Malvern Hills – 219
- Torridge – 220
- Erewash – 239
- Fareham – 247
- West Suffolk – 265
- Derbyshire Dales – 317
- Melton – 325
Responding to the figures, environment secretary Steve Reed said: “Fly-tipping is a disgraceful act which trashes communities and its increase is unacceptable. Communities and businesses shouldn’t have to put up with these crimes.”
He pledged the government will crack down on fly-tipping and “punish rubbish dumpers, forcing them to clean up their mess”.
He also said the new Crime and Policing Bill gives ministers the power to issue statutory guidance to councils to drive up fly-tipping enforcement.
