I find one of the best ways to clear my head and get some fresh air is to get out into our countryside. We’re blessed with amazing blossom in our local orchards and rolling fields on our doorstep. But I know I’m not alone in hating the blight of litter and fly-tipping which too often spoils the countryside.
Thank you to all the voluntary litter pickers who’ve been out clearing up our lanes. I joined a couple of spring litter picks to play my part, but I know many of you go out all year round to keep the litter in check.
The most annoying thing is this really shouldn’t be necessary. If only people would put their rubbish in the bin, rather than throwing it out the window. And the thing we all hate most is fly-tippers, often making money at the same time as blighting the countryside. It’s time to put an end to it.
Every time I see the familiar unsightly mound of old mattresses, broken furniture, bin bags or building waste, I feel a surge of anger at whoever thought it acceptable to dump this rubbish. And I know I’m not alone. I receive lots of emails about fly-tipping even though most people wouldn’t think of writing to me about this problem.
Fly-tipping on verges and lay-bys, or in gateways, the edges of fields and woodland is ugly, hazardous to wildlife and expensive to clear-up. Waste dumped in the middle of country lanes is dangerous too.
The cost of clearing up fly-tipping on public land and highways costs taxpayers millions of pounds a year. If it’s on farmland, it usually falls to hard-pressed farmers to remove it.
Despite the increasing use of CCTV to catch fly-tippers, the problem is getting worse. I’m investigating why.
There should be big penalties for fly-tipping, and this is possible in law. There is no minimum fine and courts have the option of issuing Fixed Penalty Notices with the right to seize vehicles. For the most serious cases, the law allows prison sentences for up to 5 years. Yet penalties imposed for fly tipping are often low-level fines, and clearly many fly-tippers are never caught at all.
According to the House of Commons Library:
‘In the year ending September 2025, there were 25 people sentenced for fly tipping related offences in the police force area of Kent (this compares to 43 in the previous year). The custody rate was 4.0% and the average fine excluding companies was £466. The average custodial sentence and the average fine for companies was not published due to the small numbers involved.’
This is simply not good enough.
The Police tell me it is impossible to patrol miles of country lanes to catch fly tippers and it is a waste of time trying if they get off almost scot-free by the courts.
I plan to find out why the sentences given to fly tippers are so lenient and what more can be done to warn them off.
We also need to do more to tackle littering. I am grateful to the volunteers out litter picking & parish councils organising litter picks. I know it’s not glamorous work and we’d all rather people threw their rubbish in the bin - but some don’t so this needs doing.
If you agree with me that we need to crack down harder on fly tipping please follow me on Facebook if you don’t already. I will keep you up-to-date with my campaign to stop fly tipping.
