Seizing vehicles must become the default penalty for fly-tipping as part of tougher punishments for waste crime says the CLA.

As well as seizing vehicles to act as a deterrent, the CLA recommends enforcing fines for home and business owners whose waste is found in fly-tipped locations and appointing a ‘Fly-Tipping Tsar’ to co-ordinate with national agencies to match the scale of fly tipping as an organised crime.

The CLA’s new proposals also propose the development of new ways to clear up and support victims so that private landowners are not held liable and educating the public anti-social behaviour.

Results from a survey conducted by Farmers Weekly and CLA Insurance revealed that almost two thirds of farmers and landowners have been affected by fly-tipping and over half agree it is a significant issue in their area. Some 85% have taken measures to protect their land such installing gates or barriers, padlocking entrances and using CCTV, but only 13% have insured their farm business against fly-tipping.

CLA South West Director, John Mortimer, said: “Fly-tipping is not a victimless crime. Private landowners are fed up with clearing away other people’s rubbish and then paying for the privilege of doing so but if they don’t act, they risk prosecution for illegal storage of waste.”

Most victims surveyed said they had been targeted on multiple occasions, around two to three times per month, and because private landowners are liable for the clean-up process they are spending on average £844 per incident.

Out of 936,000 fly-tipping incidents in 2015/2016 only 129 vehicles were seized, and out of 2,135 prosecutions only 77 fines of over £1,000 were imposed, according to figures published by Defra earlier this year.