AN agricultural expert is warning of the ‘hidden cost’ of fly-tipping, after it was revealed the number of fly-tipping incidents in Waverley borough has skyrocketed by 38 per cent in just 12 months.

Newly-released figures from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) revealed that 549 incidents of fly-tipping were dealt with by Waverley Borough Council in 2016/17, costing taxpayers £27,908 to clear up.

This marks an increase of 38 per cent on the 399 incidents reported to Waverley the previous year.

On a regional level, there were 79,911 reported fly-tipping incidents in the South East between April 2016 and March 2017 – an increase of 15 per cent on last year - costing taxpayers £4,541,608.

However, Alan Sinclair, of farm insurance specialist Lycetts, warns that these figures, as high as they seem, are not a true reflection of the cost of fly-tipping across the South East as DEFRA’s figures only account for fly-tipping incidents on council land, not private land.

Farmers who fall prey to this crime are having to shoulder the burden, responsible for meeting the cost of clearing rubbish from their land themselves – at an average cost of £1,000 per incident, he said. They are also liable if the dumped rubbish damages the countryside.

Mr Sinclair added: “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 fly-tipping on their land and it leads to environmental damage, they could be held liable under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

“With many authorities looking at introducing charges for bulky waste and organic waste collections and charging for dumping waste at council-run tips, there is a fear that fly-tipping incidents on farmland will increase.”

Surrey County Council was one of those to introduce unpopular charges for disposing household DIY waste, dubbed the ‘Tory Tip Tax’ by opposition councillors, at community recycling centres in September 2016 - and from January this year ended the daily allowance for local residents to dispose of waste for free.

However, there are hopes that charges for residents disposing DIY waste at Surrey’s tips could soon be a thing of the past, after DEFRA launched a consultation this week on how to deal with waste crime and fly-tipping, including plans to “clarify the law” if councils continue to charge for disposal of “reasonable” amounts of DIY waste.

It added: “The Government’s view is that residents should be able to dispose of household DIY waste free of charge.”

Other measures proposed include the ability for local authorities to fine households whose waste ends up fly-tipped or illegally dumped, and new powers for the Environment Agency to block access to problem waste sites.

Hailing DEFRA’s consultation, Stephen Cooksey, Lib Dem spokesperson for the environment at Surrey County Council, said: “Councils should be doing everything they can to make it easier for residents to do the right thing and dispose of their waste legally and in a responsible manner. These charges did the exact opposite and sent out exactly the wrong message to residents in Surrey.

“The Government’s intention to legislate should act as a wake-up call for Surrey’s Conservative cabinet to axe these charges immediately. I am also calling on the county council to respond to the Government’s consultation positively and to finally accept that their ‘Tip Tax’ on local residents is coming to an end.”

NFU South East spokeswoman Isobel Bretherton added: “This announcement is an important first step but the NFU is calling for targeted measures to address fly-tipping on farmland as this scourge cannot continue.

“Farmers constantly face the hassle of reporting incidents of fly-tipping and cleaning up illegally dumped waste – they foot big clean-up bills as fly-tipped waste must then be disposed of responsibly.

“The NFU has already laid out solutions to deal with this issue in its Rural Crime Report. For example, there needs to be a joined up approach between Government, landowners and police to prevent this act in the first place, and provide assistance to farmers clearing up rubbish when they fall victim to fly-tipping.

“There is also a clear need to raise awareness within households, businesses and organisations about their duty of care to deal with waste lawfully and to keep it out of the hands of criminals who blight our countryside.”

Responding in-turn to the DEFRA announcement, Surrey County Council has stood by its controversial charges.

Mike Goodman, Surrey’s cabinet member for environment, said: “The law on this remains unchanged and along with many other councils, we introduced this as the cost to Surrey taxpayers of dealing with construction waste was £1 million a year.

“Without taking this action, we would have found it even harder to keep our services going as we have had to find more than £100m of savings this year.”

Commenting on the spike in fly-tipping in the borough, a spokesman for Waverley Borough Council added: “Fly-tipping is a criminal offence and the council will fine and prosecute those who are caught.

“Waverley uses a number of tactics to help catch and prosecute offenders, such as mobile CCTV cameras and increased patrols by officers who are part of the Joint Enforcement Initiative.

“For the disposal of large household items, such as sofas and washing machines, the council provides a bulky waste collection service or, if they are in good condition, they can be donated to a charity - some of which offer collections.

“The council also has a search tool on its website which can be found at www.waverley.gov.uk/bins, which lists a number of ways to recycle waste. If anyone spots an incident of fly-tipping please report it online at: www.waverley.gov.uk/report-it or call 01483 523524.”