Incidents of fly-tipping have increased in the last year, while the number of fixed penalty notices has plummeted with Britons raging at the “horrendous” state of the country.
New figures released from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show that in the year 2023/24, England saw 1.5million incidents of illegal dumping.
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This marks a six per cent increase from the previous year which saw 1.08million cases.
While the number of fly-tipping cases rise, the number of those being punished for the offence is decreasing.
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A ‘genuinely staggering’ amount of dumped rubbish left nine households trapped in Lichfield in January
PA
The number of fixed penalty notices issued was 63,000 in 2023/24 – a decrease of 5 per cent from 67,000 in 2022/23.
And there was also a decrease in the number of enforcement actions carried out by local authorities, dropping from 530,000 to 528,000.
Scott Gibbins, self-described “very keen litter picker” and part of Leicestershire Litter Wombles, said that people need to start taking more “pride” in where they live.
He told GB News: “The thing I keep banging on about pride. There’s no pride any more. You look around shops, in the car parks and businesses. It’s absolutely horrendous.
“I think most people have become litter blind because we’re just so used to seeing it.”
The data revealed that the areas most targeted by fly-tippers were highways, roads and pavements, which accounted for 37 per cent of total incidents in 2023/24.
A heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver told the People’s Channel last month that the condition of lay-bys and roads near junctions and roundabouts are “disgusting”.
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Households can face fines of up to £5,000 if their waste is illegally dumped, even if they believed they were using a legitimate companyPA
“Litter is just chucked out of the vehicle’s windows and there is rubbish everywhere.”
He added: “But, if rules aren’t enforced then it won’t make any difference. It’s a mentality of ‘let someone else tidy it up’. People have no pride in this country.”
And the cleaners who are working tirelessly to try and keep our landscapes tidy are also finding it hard to stay motivated, with one worker telling GB News that he “can’t cope with the amount of litter being thrown out of cars”.
The Warwick based street cleaner said he is “fighting a losing battle” as the litter continues to grow while motorists shout abuse and chuck waste at him.
Reacting to the newly released data, Gibbins said: “I’m not surprised highways are the most common area because most fly tipping is dumped from a vehicle. People pull over on a quiet country road at night and just throw it all into the ditch at the side of the road.
“Some even drive slowly down a road in the early hours, slide the door open and throw out as they’re driving along.”
The newly released data from Defra said that the most common size category for fly-tipping was equivalent to a “small van load” – a phrase that some offenders appear to have started taking literally.
Some of the rubbish is chucked at street cleaners whilst they are tidying up the lay-bysGB News
The data revealed that the areas most targeted by fly-tippers were highways, roads and pavements, which accounted for 37 per cent of total incidents in 2023/24
PA
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Scott Gibbins and the Leicestershire Litter Wombles cleaning up the lay-bysScott GibbinsFly-tippers have started leaving trucks filled with rubbish on the side of the roads, a new method to dispose of waste which is causing environmental problems and creating hazards for drivers.
Three 40-foot trailers have been sitting in lay-bys on the A53 and A41 near Shropshire since September, with motorists noting that they have become “rat-infested”.
Residents have called on the local council to take action – out of fear that the dumped vehicles are an “accident waiting to happen”.
However, an investigation by Shropshire Council, West Mercia Police, and the Environment Agency has since concluded and the trailers remain untouched.
Market Drayton Crime and Safety Watch, a volunteer-run community page spotlighting crime in the area, spoke about the scale of the problem to GB News.
“The trailers are infested with rats and, by the summer, will smell awful.” They added: “The entire community of Market Drayton would like to see the trailers removed and disposed of without any further delay. They are unsightly and give people a bad impression of the town.”
‘The trailers are infested with rats and, by the summer, will smell awful’Market Drayton Crime and Safety Watch
Burrows warned that the trailers loaded with waste could also become environmental hazards if the waste caught alight on a particularly hot day
Martin Burrows
Martin Burrows, an avid litter picker and HGV driver, has also spotted examples of these trailers and has warned they could also become environmental hazards if the waste caught alight on a particularly hot day. “They can catch fire if they generate heat,” he cautioned.
Last year, 47,000 or around four per cent of total incidents were of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger, which marks a huge increase of 11 per cent from the year prior.
The cost to clear up these large incidents of fly-tipping is astronomical, totalling up at a shocking £13.1million.
At the beginning of this year, residents in Lichfield were left trapped by 100 tonnes of rubbish which was dumped onto the only road into their village.
The pile of rubbish was left in a country lane running to a dozen homes and 30 businesses at a nearby retail park in Curborough, near Lichfield in Staffordshire.
The staggering amount of rubbish, which is understood to have come from a construction site, measured 10ft high, 20ft wide and 80ft in length.
Nearby businesses lost two days’ trade while the road was cleared. It cost the council just shy of £10,000 to clear.
A ‘genuinely staggering’ amount of dumped rubbish left nine households trapped in LichfieldPA
The black sacks were filled with food waste, recycling, and general rubbish.Cornwall Hospice Care Shops
And while the council paid to have the waste disposed of in this instance, often it is the homeowners, business owners and landowners who have become the victims of illegal dumping and find themselves having to front the costs.
A charity shop in Bude was forced to use donations for life-ending care to cover the cost of disposing of fly-tipped waste that was left outside the store.
Cornwall Hospice Care told GB News that “what we can’t sell, we have to pay to get rid of”.
Those planning to pay companies to get discard their rubbish must also be cautious and are recommended to carry out research before hiring someone to move their waste.
Households can also face fines of up to £5,000 if their waste is illegally dumped, even if they believed they were using a legitimate company.
Reacting to the new data, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 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.
“This Government will crack down on fly tipping and punish rubbish dumpers, forcing them to clean up their mess.
“Through the new Crime and Policing Bill we will also give ministers the power to issue statutory guidance to councils to drive up fly-tipping enforcement.”
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