More than 1,000 fly-tipping incidents were recorded in Portsmouth in 12 months

Statistics from a study by GMB, the union for workers in the refuse and recycling sector, revealed that nationally over one million fly-tipping incidents were recorded at a cost of more than £57 million to clear.

On average councils were found to report 1,193 episodes of fly-tipping, higher than Portsmouth’s 1,048. Gosport, Havant and East Hampshire were also found to have less fly-tipping incidents than the national average.

Portsmouth City Council’s assistant director of property and housing, Colette Hill, said: ‘We’re working hard to crack down on fly-tipping. The amount of rubbish fly-tipped in the city dropped from 338 tonnes in 2015-1016 to 307 tonnes the following year. We’re waiting for last year’s figures, but we’re on track for another drop.

‘We’re prosecuting more people in court - up from seven convictions in 2016-2017 to 18 convictions in 2017-2018. In the same period, the number of on-the-spot fines we issued went up from five to 18.

‘There’s no excuse for fly-tipping. The household waste and recycling centre at Port Solent is open seven days a week, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. And most things are free to dispose of, including furniture, garden waste, electrical items and household rubbish.’

The study also claimed that the incidents cost Portsmouth taxpayers a total of £33,910. However, fly-tipping clear-ups are dealt with by the council’s contractor Colas which is paid a flat fee which also includes dealing with potholes and other maintenance so it is unclear if this cost is purely due to fly-tipping. GMB was unavailable for comment.

Although Portsmouth’s fly-tipping rates were recorded as higher than that of East Hampshire (676), the cost was almost £20,000 less.

Portsmouth’s neighbouring council Southampton City Council was shown to have paid the second highest amount in the country to clear up fly-tipping at a cost of £308,174 for more than 10,000 incidents.