UK's fly-tipping 'tragedy'

CAMPAIGNERS have slammed the fly-tipping crisis as a "tragedy" as incidents increased by 6% in a year.

- Steph Spyro

Taxpayers fork out more than £100million annually to clean up illegal dumps across the country.

Local authorities in England dealt with 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents in 2023/24, a rise from the 1.08 million reported the previous year.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, of the charity Keep Britain Tidy, said: "These statistics are a tragedy. Fly tipping is costing each and every one of us.

"Increasing sums are needed to clean up the mess that's wrecking both the environment and communities, where it significantly contributes to people feeling 'left behind'.

"This 6% increase in incidents dealt with by local authorities - taking the total to a whopping 1.15 million – is frightening and shameful."