Fly-tipping prosecution dip 'not full picture'

Herefordshire Council has defended its annual prosecutions and fines for fly-tipping after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed figures had hit a six-year low.

The FOI found that since 2020, the authority had completed an average of 6.7 prosecutions and 5.2 fines a year, but numbers for 2025 showed two prosecutions and one fine.

This came despite the council stating it had continued to receive about a thousand reports a year of fly-tipping on both public and private land.

Its cabinet member for roads and regulatory services Barry Durkin said the FOI figures did "not reflect the full picture".

He said many cases were prosecuted under related legislation such as duty of care and waste offences, "where this offers the strongest route to conviction".

Durkin said when this enforcement activity was included, prosecutions totalled 13 across 2025.

The councillor added the council's approach to enforcement combined "education, accessible waste services, fixed penalty notices and prosecution for serious or persistent offenders".

He said the authority was "grateful" to the public for reporting incidents and said it remained "committed to protecting" the county from environmental crime.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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