
Which areas in the UK have the most reported fly-tipping incidents?
Fly-tipping doesn’t just have a serious impact on the environment, local wildlife and public health, but also costs millions of pounds to the taxpayer in order to be responsibly removed.
There were over a million fly-tipping incidents in the UK in the last year, which is more than any other year in the last decade, but which parts of the country are the worst offenders?
Areas with the Most Fly Tipping Incidents
The area with the most reported fly-tipping incidents was Leeds, with 32,411 incidents dealt with in the last year.
However, five out of the top ten areas with the most incidents were all located in London, with Camden, Brent, Croydon, Hounslow and Haringey the next worst offenders after Leeds and the total number of fly-tipping incidents across each London borough totalled 324,261.

Rank | Local Authority | Region | Fly Tipping Incidents | Fly Tipping Fines |
1 | Leeds | Yorkshire and Humber | 32,411 | £1,600 |
2 | Camden | London | 25,765 | £0 |
3 | Brent | London | 23,965 | £50,910 |
4 | Croydon | London | 22,184 | £4,953 |
5 | Hounslow | London | 21,897 | £0 |
6 | Haringey | London | 21,320 | £11,917 |
7 | Liverpool | North West | 20,210 | £0 |
8 | Plymouth | South West | 19,622 | £5,570 |
9 | Manchester | North West | 19,056 | £78,964 |
10 | Birmingham | West Midlands | 17,575 | £175,643 |
11 | Hammersmith and Fulham | London | 16,769 | £9,150 |
12 | Bradford | Yorkshire and Humber | 16,584 | £4,875 |
13 | Greenwich | London | 15,897 | £0 |
14 | Sheffield | Yorkshire and Humber | 15,254 | £3,774 |
15 | Northampton | East Midlands | 15,246 | £430 |
16 | Westminster | London | 15,003 | £0 |
17 | Newham | London | 14,656 | £0 |
18 | Southwark | London | 14,412 | £9,794 |
19 | Harrow | London | 13,658 | £50,396 |
20 | Hackney | London | 13,504 | £6,186 |
21 | Ealing | London | 12,547 | £0 |
22 | Merton | London | 11,406 | £0 |
23 | Southampton | South East | 11,400 | £0 |
24 | Hillingdon | London | 10,677 | £0 |
25 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | North East | 9,931 | £42,635 |
Areas with the Least Fly Tipping Incidents
However, we also decided to look at which areas were the least likely to fly-tip, just one area recording zero incidents in the whole year, which was the remote Isles of Scilly.
Other than this, the area with the lowest occurrences were Oadby & Wigston in the East Midlands (17 incidents), which works out as almost 2,000 times fewer incidents than in Leeds.

Rank | Local Authority | Region | Fly Tipping Incidents | Fly Tipping Fines |
1 | Isles of Scilly | South West | 0 | £0 |
2 | Oadby and Wigston | East Midlands | 17 | £0 |
3 | Ryedale | Yorkshire and Humber | 38 | £0 |
4 | West Somerset | South West | 65 | £0 |
5 | Richmondshire | Yorkshire and Humber | 105 | £0 |
6 | South Lakeland | North West | 117 | £0 |
7 | Craven | Yorkshire and Humber | 154 | £903 |
8 | Scarborough | Yorkshire and Humber | 167 | £4,485 |
9 | Fareham | South East | 181 | £0 |
9 | West Devon | South West | 181 | £167 |
11 | High Peak | East Midlands | 199 | £0 |
12 | Weymouth and Portland | South West | 205 | £0 |
13 | Cheltenham | South West | 207 | £0 |
14 | Christchurch | South West | 212 | £0 |
15 | Lewes | South East | 215 | £0 |
16 | Malvern Hills | West Midlands | 217 | £0 |
17 | Derbyshire Dales | East Midlands | 222 | £0 |
18 | Copeland | North West | 237 | £0 |
18 | North Dorset | South West | 237 | £0 |
20 | Torridge | South West | 238 | £150 |
21 | Babergh | East | 256 | £0 |
22 | Amber Valley | East Midlands | 266 | £0 |
23 | Erewash | East Midlands | 270 | £80 |
23 | Lichfield | West Midlands | 270 | £2,000 |
25 | Forest Heath | East | 271 | £0 |
The Areas with the Highest Fly-Tipping Fines
The areas which are most likely to be caught fly-tipping aren’t necessarily the ones that have been hit with the biggest fines, with fines being decided based on the severity of the incident.
In fact, the area that has forked out the most in fines was Birmingham, with over £175,000 coughed up in the last year, which is over twice as much as the next city, suggesting that the local council in the city are particularly tough on fly-tippers.

Rank | Local Authority | Region | Fly Tipping Incidents | Fly Tipping Fines |
1 | Birmingham | West Midlands | 17,575 | £175,643 |
2 | Manchester | North West | 19,056 | £78,964 |
3 | Derby | East Midlands | 6,004 | £67,232 |
4 | Leicester | East Midlands | 7,997 | £64,155 |
5 | Brent | London | 23,965 | £50,910 |
6 | Harrow | London | 13,658 | £50,396 |
7 | Herefordshire | West Midlands | 492 | £49,481 |
8 | Newcastle-upon-Tyne | North East | 9,931 | £42,635 |
9 | South Bucks | South East | 592 | £22,970 |
10 | Test Valley | South East | 1,138 | £22,631 |
11 | Cheshire West and Chester | North West | 4,068 | £21,162 |
12 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Yorkshire and Humber | 3,936 | £20,826 |
13 | Medway | South East | 5,141 | £19,060 |
14 | Gateshead | North East | 7,886 | £18,286 |
15 | Bolton | North West | 1,004 | £18,031 |
16 | Haringey | London | 21,320 | £11,917 |
17 | Darlington | North East | 3,006 | £11,292 |
18 | Broxbourne | East | 897 | £10,015 |
19 | Southwark | London | 14,412 | £9,794 |
20 | North Kesteven | East Midlands | 889 | £9,318 |
21 | York | Yorkshire and Humber | 1,483 | £9,244 |
22 | Hammersmith and Fulham | London | 16,769 | £9,150 |
23 | County Durham | North East | 7,269 | £9,106 |
24 | South Holland | East Midlands | 876 | £8,574 |
25 | East Riding of Yorkshire | Yorkshire and Humber | 1,346 | £8,282 |
How Much Could You Be Fined?
Fly-tipping is considered a criminal offence and can be punished by a fixed penalty notice of up to £400.
However, if the matter is more serious, then you could be convicted and hit with a fine of anything up to £50,000 or 12 months in prison at a Magistrate’s Court, or even 5 years in prison or an unlimited fine if dealt with at a Crown Court.
How to Legally Dispose of Waste
So, to make sure that you don’t get caught out and hit with a nasty fine, how can you safely and legally dispose of large amounts of waste?
Household waste is one of the most common types of fly-tipped waste, as large items of furniture can be a hassle to get rid of.
To make it easier, try to disassemble where possible before taking to your local tip, or better yet, look into how you could potentially recycle furniture instead, either by donating to charity or by getting in touch with your local council, as many now have dedicated recycling and disposal services.
Garden waste is also something which commonly gets dumped, but these can also be disposed of at your local tip, although you might require a permit for larger things such as whole hedges and trees.
You could also choose to hire a skip and most skip hire companies should arrange any permits that you require and will also come and collect the skip for you too. But do make sure that you’re dealing with a legitimate and reputable firm, as there have been increasing incidences of criminal gangs setting up fake waste disposal companies and dumping goods in hired outbuildings.
Sources
All data sourced from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs latest fly-tipping dataset (ENV24) and refers to the 2018-19 financial year.
For each local authority, we looked at both the number of total incidents and the total sum of fines paid.