Fly-tipping prosecutions rocket by 20% in twelve months

The number of prosecutions brought by local authorities in England over fly-tipping has risen by more than 20% in the last year.

Local authorities enjoyed a 97% success rate in nearly 2,500 prosecutions, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said.

Councils also issued 116,500 warning letters and 2,100 formal cautions to those suspected of illegally dumping waste.

Defra said the total cost to local authorities of clearing fly-tipping – defined as waste illegally deposited on land under section 33 of the Environment Protection Act 1990 – in 2009/10 was £45.8m.

Environment Minister Lord Henley said the government was encouraged by the efforts being made by local authorities to tackle fly-tipping but insisted there was no room for complacency.

He added: “A total of nearly 947,000 incidents is unacceptable by any standards and fly-tipping is clearly still a significant problem. We must all work together to stamp out this continuing blight on our neighbourhoods.”

Defra’s statistics showed that the number of reported incidents of fly-tipping in 2009-10 decreased by 18.7% compared to the previous year. However, the department explained that much of this drop is due to changes in the way figures are reported by a small number of local authorities.

The figures do not cover waste fly-tipped on private land, which is the responsibility of the private landowner to clear.