The results from Flycapture –– a national database which councils use to keep the Government posted on the problem –– show that between April 2006 and March 2007 there were 972 reported incidents of fly-tipping, compared with 853 incidents in the same period last year.

Now Ministers want councils to do more in the war against fly-tipping by stepping up enforcement and taking out more prosecutions.

But Ashfield District Council chiefs say there has been a downturn in the number of dumpings since March, which has led to a 13.6 per cent reduction so far this year.

And their drive to stamp out the problem has seen them haul offenders before the courts, with one woman recently hit in the pocket after her children chucked rubbish around a street –– while they say more prosecutions are pending.

Said Edd deCoverly, the council's head of neighbourhood services: "It is pleasing that the level of fly-tipping has reduced in Ashfield in the last six months, but we must continue to be vigilant and we will continue to prosecute anyone we find to be illegally disposing of their waste".

They are also urging residents to make sure they know the destination of their waste –– especially if they ask or pay for someone else to remove it –– and if the carrier has a licence because they are liable if the rubbish is found illegally dumped.


LINK: Defra Flycapture figures