New figures reveal fall in large scale fly-tipping incidents in Peterborough
New figures show there was a fall in the number of large scale fly-tipping incidents across Peterborough over the last six years.
Data from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs show that the number of significant fly tipping incidents across Peterborough fell by 36 per cent between 2023/24 and 2024/25.
The figures reveal there were 269 incidents of ‘tipper lorry loads’ of fly tipping in 2023/24 and 27 incidents of significant/multi-loads of fly tipping – a total of 296 incidents across the year.
However that fell to 167 incidents of ‘tipper lorry loads’ of fly tipping and 21 incidents of significant/multi-loads of fly tipping across 2024/25 – a combined total of 188 incidents.
But across six years covered by the Defra figures, there was a drop of 29 per cent in fly-tipping incidents in Peterborough.
In 2019/20 there were a total of 265 incidents made up of 214 incidents of ‘tipper lorry loads’ and 51 incidents of significant/multi-loads of fly tipping.
However, the situation appears to be worse in some other cities and towns.
For instance, Milton Keynes has seen a 306 per cent increase in fly tipping since 2019/20.
At the start of the period there were 29 incidents of ‘tipper lorry loads’ of fly tipping and 21 incidents of significant/multi-loads of fly tipping – a total of 50.
But 2024/25 that had soared to 106 ‘tipper lorry loads’ of fly tipping and 97 incidents of significant/multi-loads of fly tipping – a total of 203 incidents.
Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes said: “Illegal dumping and fly-tipping remain a huge problem in Peterborough and many other places.
"These latest figures are important but only show one part of the story.
"We need stronger action to capture the fraudsters dumping illegal waste and to hold them to account.
He said: “I welcome the recent investment in new technology, like drones, to help capture these thugs, and the record fines we are now seeing imposed through the courts.
"I’d like to thank the brilliant work of volunteers helping to deal with this issue, both in the city and our rural patches, but volunteers can’t do it alone.
"We need the council, government and courts working together to tackle this blight.”
A spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance said: "Fly-tipping is not just an environmental nuisance-it has become a serious and organised crime issue and rural communities are on the frontline.
"Despite hundreds of site closures in recent years, only around 27 per cent of waste crime incidents are believed to be reported, meaning the true picture is far larger than official figures suggest.”
A spokesperson for the CIWM, the leading professional body for the waste and resource management sector, said: “It is evident that waste crime at all levels continues to cause misery and anxiety for local communities and causes real damage to local environments and local economies.
"We should all be clear on where the blame lies for such incidents, which is clearly on the perpetrators.
"These are crooks and cowboy operators, often organised criminal gangs, deliberately profiting from other’s misery, from polluting our environment and exploiting loopholes in the system.”