Tougher penalties needed to curb surge in fly-tipping, say councils

Illegal dumping has surged by 50% since 2012 but powers to issue big fines are going unused

Fly-tipping has increased by 50% in the last six years, prompting councils to call for much bigger penalties for offenders.

More than a million incidents of illegal rubbish dumping were recorded in the financial year 2018-19, which cost councils 58m to clean up. Most incidents involved household waste being jettisoned from cars or vans by the side of a road.