Just one in 450 fly-tipping cases in England lead to a prosecution, figures suggest

Shocking figures have revealed that just one in 450 fly-tipping cases in England leads to a prosecution, it has been reported.

According to figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday, just 2,243 incidents of fly-tipping out of a total 997,553 were dealt with successfully in court, with just 25 people were sent to prison.

The revelation comes after the Local Government Association (LGA) warned that fly-tipping going unpunished is one of several effects that communities will face as councils back a multibillion-pound black hole.

The LGA said councils face an £8 billion funding black hole by 2025, bringing a growing risk to services included the issue of fixed penalty noticed to fly-tippers, lollipop men and women, bus services, and litter bin services.

According to The Mail on Sunday, figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show that four in ten authorities in England (41%) did not bring any prosecutions against fly-tippers in 2017-18.

It reported that just 68,618 fixed penalty notices were handed out – 6.8% of the total number of offences.

The LGA, which represents 349 English councils, is calling for the forthcoming spending review to support local authorities, who will have lost almost 60p out of every £1 provided by central Government between 2010 and 2020.

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As part of its call, it outlined seven services that councils might need to cut as they face a funding black hole.

They include issuing penalty notices for fly-tipping and graffiti – councils were given the power to issue on-the-spot fines of up to £400 to fly-tippers in 2016.

The LGA said councils recorded 997,553 incidents of illegal fly-tipping last year – an average of more than 2,700 a day.

Defra told the Mail on Sunday: “Councils are using powers to hand out on-the-spot fines to fly-tippers to good effect, and we have made it easier for vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping to be stopped, searched and seized.

“We also recently introduced new fixed-penalty notices for householders who pass their waste to a fly-tipper, as we continue to crack down on those who blight our landscapes.”