New figures show rise in fly-tipping

INCIDENTS INCREASED BY OVER 70% SINCE 2017

- By JAMES ROBINSON Local democracy reporter

NEW figures show the number of fly-tipping incidents in Northumberland have increased by more than 70% since 2017.

The data shows that there were 4,429 incidents across the county in 2023/24 - up from 2,511 in 2016/17. This amounts to an increase of 73%.

Ahead of local elections on Tuesday, the Labour Party has attacked the current Conservative administration over the rise, while Labour MP Emma Foody has even raised the issue in Parliament. However, Conservative leader Glen Sanderson has argued that the council records incidents differently now.

Furthermore, new strategies have been brought in by the council to tackle offenders. The number of incidents has fallen by 23% in the year ending in March.

Labour leader Coun Scott Dickinson pointed out that the number of offenders who had action taken against them has also fallen by 24%. He said: "I want to make Northumberland one of the best places to grow up and grow old in, but fly-tipping is a major problem and has been ignored for too long.