Councils dealt with well over 1 million fly-tipping incidents on public land alone last year, a rise of 6%, with calls for the government to act tougher on the crime.
The official figures, released today (26 February), only account for waste illegally dumped on public land that has been reported to the authorities.
Rural campaigners frequently point out that many fly-tipping incidents occur on private land, painting an even more damaging picture of the financial burden and environmental impact it brings.
Responding to the figures, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) urged for Labour's long-promised rural crime strategy to be published as soon as possible.
Its new survey of farmers and landowners, also released today, shows nearly 95% believe local authorities need increased resourcing to help fight war on waste.
Nearly all of respondents had been victims of fly-tipping in the last 12 months, with waste such as tyres, cooking oil drums, mattresses, fridges and sofas dumped on their land.
Almost 40% said they had experienced at least six separate incidents in the past year, while over 75% said fly-tipping had a significant financial impact on their business.
Nearly 12 months ago, before the general election, Labour pledged to establish a rural crime strategy, but it remains unpublished.
CLA President Victoria Vyvyan said the government must unveil it as soon as possible: “Rural communities have had enough of fly-tipping and waste crime, and the government must act," she added.
"Farmers and the countryside are increasingly being targeted by organised crime gangs – often violent – who know that rural areas are under-policed and so they target them.
“It’s not just litter blotting the landscape, but tonnes of household and commercial waste which can often be hazardous – even including asbestos and chemicals – endangering farmers, wildlife, livestock, crops and the environment.
"People, communities and businesses deserve to feel safe and protected, and the first place to start must surely be ending the chronic under-funding of rural police forces."
Last year, the CLA lodged FoI requests that revealed many rural areas in England and Wales have no dedicated rural officers, ringfenced police funding, or forces with basic kit such as torches.
The body approached 36 police forces operating in rural areas, and found five have no rural crime team, and eight have less than ten dedicated rural officers.
Colin Rayner, whose family farm in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey, said they had incidents of fly-tipping every day, 'from a bag of garden waste to lorry loads of waste'.
“We have made our farms into medieval forts to try to reduce large loads of waste been tipped on the farms," he said.
"The cost to the family in terms of extra security, clearing up the waste and threats from the fly-tipping gangs is too much to bear at times.”
