More than 1,000 fly-tipping incidents in Doncaster

The Country Land and Business Association said the "disgraceful behaviour" blights the countryside and warned that the true extent of fly-tipping across England is probably even higher than feared.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs data shows 1,177 fly-tipping incidents were reported to Doncaster Council in 2020-21.

This was down from the 1,373 discoveries made the year before.

Meanwhile, seven fines, a combined £2,320, resulting from court convictions were issued in the area last year – down from 24 in 2019-20.

Doncaster Council carried out 2,435 enforcement actions in 2020-21, including 69 fixed penalty notices.

Across England, a record 1.1 million incidents of rubbish dumped on highways and beauty spots were found in 2020-21, up from 980,000 the previous year.

But the number of court fines halved from 2,672 to just 1,313 – with their total value decreasing from £1.2 million to £440,000.

The CLA, which represents rural businesses, said the vast majority of fly-tipping occurs on private land, which the figures do not cover.

Mark Tufnell, president of the CLA, said: “These figures do not tell the full story of this disgraceful behaviour which blights our beautiful countryside.

“Fly-tipping continues to wreck the lives of many of us living and working in the countryside – and significant progress needs to be made to stop it.

“It’s not just the odd bin bag but large household items, from unwanted sofas to broken washing machines, building materials and even asbestos being dumped across our countryside.”

Doncaster saw 3.8 fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people last year – which was well below the average across England, of 20.1.

Household waste accounted for 621 (53 per cent) incidents last year, while 91 separate incidents were classed as large enough to fill a tipper lorry.

These cost the council £31,830 to clear up.

Sarah Lee, director of policy and campaigns at the Countryside Alliance, said: “From quiet rural lanes and farmers’ fields to bustling town centres and residential areas, fly-tipping continues to cause misery across the country.

“Lockdown and the subsequent closure of tips only exacerbated this situation and we would urge local authorities to think very carefully about preventing access to these facilities in future.”

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