Large scale fly tipping in Harrogate triples in 8 years - costing the taxpayer almost £30,000

Organised criminals dumping lorry-loads of rubbish on Yorkshire's roadsides are on the rise - and costing taxpayers nearly half a million each year.

Data reveals that since 2012 there have been more than 28,000 major incidents of fly-tipping in Yorkshire, which councils have had to report to the Environment Agency.

A large scale incident is defined as a lorry load, or multi-vehicle in size, and analysis has revealed that the number in Harrogate has risen from 6 in 2011/12 to 20 in 2018/19.

The total cost to the council of clearing those large incidents over that time period was £28,220.

Since April 2019, Harrogate Council has issued two fixed penalty notices (FPN) for commercial duty of care offences and four FPNs served in respect of fly-tipping.

There has also been one successful prosecution for fly-tipping that concluded in a two-year conditional discharge, requirement to pay a £680 contribution to the councils costs and a victim surcharge and a compensation order was made requiring payment of £300 for the clear-up costs.

A spokesman for Harrogate Council said: “Fly-tipping is a problem in the Harrogate district with the annual clear-up costs of around £35,000 being unfairly paid for by council tax payers.

“In attempt to tackle it head-on, we are one of eight North Yorkshire local authorities working closely with North Yorkshire County Council, North Yorkshire Police, Environment Agency, Network Rail and the National Farmers Union through the partnership group Operation Eyeball.

“Intelligence and information is shared through this group to tackle the crime and prosecute those that selfishly blight the landscape.

“We also have a team whose focus is not just investigating fly-tipping cases, and taking appropriate enforcement action, but also educating members of the public and businesses as to what questions they should be asking to ensure they are abiding by the law.”

North Yorkshire Police & Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan, who is chair of the National Rural Crime Network, said these large-scale fly-tipping incidents stemmed from "serious and organised criminals" who were evading justice.

She said: "Fly-tipping is a scourge on rural communities and is growing in both scale and severity.

"Not only does it make people feel less safe and blight our communities, but the financial cost of dealing with the waste is significant.

"Most importantly though, it is generally thought larger scale fly-tipping stems from serious and organised criminals, and so failing to deal with those offenders adequately has knock-on consequences."

A spokesman for the National Farmers' Union said: "People may associate fly-tipping with the odd mattress or fridge dumped in the countryside but it has grown into large, organised crime.

"You get a huge amount of waste dumped in the fields but also bogus waste companies which will try to rent farm buildings or land or dump lorry-loads or rubbish here."

Those who employ an individual or business to remove waste have a responsibility to ensure they dispose of it legitimately.

Harrogate Council advised people who pay for waste to be removed to check for a waste carriers license. Anyone who witnesses fly tipping in the Harrogate area or suspects that someone is operating an unlawful waste disposal business should report it to the council via the website or 01423 500600.