Destroyed couch

Rubbish is being illegally dumped across Kent 34 times every day costing taxpayers more than £1m a year to clear up and enforce.

But despite the widespread and detested problem of fly-tipping, of which there were 12,727 incidents in 2010-11, only 40 offenders were successfully prosecuted.

The shocking figures, obtained by the Countryside Alliance through a Freedom of Information request, only included 10 of the county’s 14 councils and so the number of incidents and subsequent costs are believed to be even higher.

In total Kent saw 12,727 incidents, with local authority clearance costs of £638,414, and enforcement costs of £382,507,

But figures showed only £6,155 was retrieved in total by councils in fines. Medway, which saw the highest number of incidents, did not give a figure for the total fines.

Chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, Alice Bernard, said fly-tipping was blighting the countryside.

“It ruins the beautiful views for which Britain is rightly famous, endangering wildlife and habitats and costing the taxpayer millions of pounds to clear up,” she said.

Of the local authorities that responded to the FOI request, those with the highest number of incidents were Medway with 3,130; Dartford with 1,921; Swale with 1,878; and Canterbury with 1,691.

Dartford council spent £92,000 on clearance and enforcement but received nothing in fines and secured no successful prosecutions.

Swale Borough Council spent £186,264 and received £3,057 in fines with just 11 successful prosecutions, and Canterbury City Council saw £162,395 spent in total with five prosecutions and just £1,080 retrieved in fines.

Medway fared the worse, spending £302,134 with just 12 successful prosecutions, although the council is the largest unitary authority in the south east with roughly twice the population than district and borough councils.

A Medway spokeswoman said the authority took a zero tolerance approach to fly-tipping and would prosecute any offender caught dumping waste.

“All cases of fly-tipping that are reported to the council are always fully investigated and the number of reports in Medway have consistently fallen year on year, with a 44 per cent fall since 2006,” she said.

“We work closely with other agencies including the police and the Environment Agency, as well as neighbouring authorities, to share intelligence to crack down on offenders.

“As part of this crack down we work to make sure residents are vigilant and aware of fly-tipping and how they can report cases to the council.

“This includes raising awareness among residents that if they are paying a third party to take their waste away, they need to check beforehand that they are a licensed waste carrier.”

The spokeswoman said Medway was one of few authorities helping residents by removing household waste, such as old beds, wardrobes and old cars free of charge.

She added: “In addition to the recent prosecutions the Countryside Alliance mentions, we also have numerous other cases currently under investigation.”

Last month, Dover District Council, which saw 512 incidents in 2010-11, prosecuted three men for fly-tipping in Crabble Lane, a regularly targeted site for people illegally dumping rubbish.

Lee Terry, 29, from Dover, was handed a community order, with a requirement to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay costs of £150.

London resident Brian Abdul, 29, was fined £600 and ordered to pay costs of £150.

Nick Booton, 24, from Dover was fined £500 and made to pay £270 costs.

Dover council cabinet member for health, well-being and public protection, Cllr Pat Heath, said the authority worked closely with residents, businesses and landowners in areas where fly tipping was a problem.

“This includes out of hours visits, CCTV monitoring and interviewing suspected offenders under caution,” he said.

“Fly-tipping is a selfish activity, which is unsightly and can be dangerous to wildlife, livestock and walkers.

“The council is keen to send out a message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated and will pursue matters through the courts as appropriate.”