LIB Dem county councillors in Surrey have launched a petition calling for Surrey County Council to abolish charges for residents disposing of DIY waste.

The petition follows a consultation from the Government announcing that it opposes the principle of councils charging residents for disposing of DIY waste and will consider changing the law if councils continue to charge.

It calls on the county council to “immediately stop charging residents for the disposal of household DIY waste” and can be signed online at scc.lib.dm/P82W.

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

It marked 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, warned the figures, as high as they seemed, were not a true reflection of the cost of fly-tipping across the South East.

DEFRA’s figures only accounted for fly-tipping incidents on council land, not private land, he said.

Farmers who fall prey to the 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, Mr Sinclair added.

They are also liable if the dumped rubbish damages the countryside.

Mr Sinclair 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 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.”