Thousands of incidents of fly-tipping have been recorded across Buckinghamshire, but the majority of offenders have got away scot-free, with just over one per cent of tippers punished, according to Bucks Free Press.
Of the 6,943 fly-tips recorded in Bucks in 2019/20, Milton Keynes was the town with the most incidents, with 4,899 fly-tips recorded.
Despite the large number of offences though, only 93 offenders, or around 1.34 per cent, actually received any form of punishment
According to the data, which is sourced from the Government via OnlineMortgageAdvisor, nearly 4,000 of these tippings in Milton Keynes took place on council land, and 4,399 were household waste in black bags.
A total of 17 fly-tips took place in watercourses or on riverbanks, 173 white goods were dumped, and four chemical, oil or fuel drums were recovered.
Costs for clearing up the rubbish was high. In 29 instances there was so much waste that a tipper lorry was needed, costing the council more than £10,000. There were 21 larger incidents that required multiple trucks to deal with, costing the taxpayer a further £7,350.
As a result, 301 warning letters were sent out, 18 fixed penalty notices were issued, two prosecutions were made and two fines were handed out, totalling £920.
In Aylesbury, there were 1,056 reported incidents of fly-tipping in 2019/20, 864 of which took place on highways or to the side of roads.
During the time period, there was one dumped animal carcass, 23 cases of vehicle parts being fly-tipped, and eight asbestos dumpings. There was only one instance where a tipper lorry was needed to clear the waste, but 718 cases where a transit van-load had been disposed of.
Not one fixed penalty notice was issued by the council. One warning letter was sent, 12 prosecutions made, one community service order given and 11 fines handed out, raising a total of £11,068.
Meanwhile, in Wycombe, 988 fly-tipping incidents were recorded. More than half (529) took place on the highways, and a further 329 on footpaths or bridleways.
There was one instance of an animal carcass being dumped, and clinical waste was tipped twice. A tipper lorry was required on 16 occasions, costing the council £5,600 to clear.Once again, no fixed penalty notices were issued to offenders. 12 warning letters were sent out, 12 people were prosecuted, and 11 people were fined, raising £13,922.
Out of 6,943 fly-tipping incidents in Bucks in 2019/20, action was only taken against offenders 407 times. Warning letters account for 314 of those 407 actions.
Image Source : Bucks Free Press
