Flytipping is now a national issue with the government publishing a new litter strategy and flytipping appearing on the agenda of government and local authorities.

In the wake of recent figures showing an ongoing rise and problem with flytipping, the Local Government Association environment spokesman has called for more producer responsibility to be imposed on those making and manufacturing products.

The spokesman, Councillor Martin Tett, said that manufacturers “need to provide more take-back services so people can hand in old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones.”

Since 2013/14, the number of fly tipping incidents have increased year on year, with local authorities dealing with 1 million fly tipping incidents in 2016/17, a 7% increase from the previous year.

Two thirds of fly tips involved household waste, rising from 628,000 incidents in 2015/16 to 676,000 in 2016/17.

The data also showed that other types of fly tipping, including construction, demolition and excavation, as well as white goods, green waste, tyres and vehicles, amounted to 26% of all fly tipping incidents.

Incidents of white goods have also been increasing each year since 2012/13. In 2016/17, there were 55,000 incidents compared to 49,000 in 2015/16.

In 2016/17, it cost local authorities £57.7 million to clear incidents of fly tipping, a 16% increase from the previous year, where it was reported to be £49.8 million.

Local authorities carried out 474,000 enforcement actions in 2016/17, costing around £16 million, a decrease of 20,000 actions and £0.9 million in cost from 2015/16.