Countryside Alliance: Massive scale of fly-tipping is abuse of countryside

Monday, 19, Mar 2007 12:00

A new investigation by the Countryside Alliance* has uncovered the massive scale of illegal ‘fly-tipping’ in Britain. Nearly 2.5 million incidents of unlawful rubbish dumping were recorded in the year to April 2006. The cost to local authorities alone was just under £100 million, yet less than one in 100 cases led to a prosecution.

Details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also revealed that:

• There is a new incident of fly-tipping every 12 seconds and the cost to the public purse stands at around £72 a minute.

• Local authorities and the Environment Agency carried out 496,798 responses to fly-tipping incidents at a total cost of nearly £17m.

• Local authorities carried out 76,428 hours of surveillance at a cost of £243,836.

• Last year there were just 24,460 prosecutions for fly-tipping offences which resulted in 8 custodial sentences, 44 Community Services and 120 Absolute or Conditional Discharges.

• Fly-tipping affects 67% of farmers and is estimated to cost them £47 million every year.

A new poll from ORB** also suggests that fly-tipping is much more of a concern to the public than other issues which receive far more political and media attention. 74% of people thought that fly tipping was a greater abuse of the countryside than wind farms, light pollution, roadside advertising or poly tunnels.

Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart said: "Many people believe that fly-tipping is something they can get away with and that the victim is faceless. This is nonsense.

"If you fly-tip on private land the owner gets the stress of clearing it up and the bill; if you fly-tip on public land the taxpayer gets the bill; and in both instances, as well as breaking the law, you are ruining the beauty of the countryside for everyone.”