Fly-tipping cost local authorities in Dorset more than £230,000 to clear up, according to the latest figures.

The data for 2016/17 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), covers nearly 5,000 incidents on council land.

There were 486 incidents of fly-tipping in Weymouth and Portland at a clearance cost of £24,539. 

West Dorset District Council was hit with a £27,314 bill to clear up 496 separate occasions of illegal dumping. 

North Dorset District Council faced a bill of £21,293 for 355 incidents and Purbeck £30,651 for 426 incidents.

Bournemouth was the worst affected with 1,556 incidents at a clearance cost of £47,553. 

The clean-up cost to taxpayers across the South West totalled £2.7 million, and nationally, £58m.

The figures only cover dumping on local authority land, and William McCarter, rural director at farm insurers Lycetts, said the figures were not a true reflection of the cost of flytipping.

Farmers and rural landowners are responsible for clearing rubbish from their own land, at an average cost of £1,000 per incident. They are also liable if the dumped rubbish damages the countryside.

He said: “Farmers are well aware of this issue and are saddened by the visual impact it has on the countryside they maintain, as well as it being a nuisance and inconvenience when trying to get on with their normal, daily jobs.”

“However, I don’t think that farmers are as aware that, should they fail to deal with incidences of flytipping on their land and it leads to environmental damage, they could be held liable under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.”

Households whose rubbish ends up being fly-tipped or dumped illegally by disposal companies could face fixed-penalty fines under new plans being considered by the government.

A consultation by Defra, as part of the government’s drive to thwart fly-tippers, has suggested giving councils the power to directly fine people caught using unlicensed waste carriers.

It is aimed at sparing local authorities the cost of chasing problem homeowners through the courts, while encouraging others to check their refuse is being disposed of legally.
Household waste makes up nearly two-thirds of fly-tipped rubbish, Defra said.

Emma Howard Boyd, chairman of the Environment Agency, said: “We welcome these new powers, which will enable our teams to block access to problem sites, preventing illegal waste building up and becoming even more serious.

“This will allow us to take faster action against criminals and will make a real difference to communities, but everyone has a role to play.

“We all need to check our waste is going to the right place and is handled by the right people.”