North East only region to see fly-tipping fall

The North East was the only region in England to see an overall drop in fly-tipping, according to the latest government data.

In the 2024/25 financial year there were on average 24 fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people in the region, compared with 25 in 2023/24. However, the North East still saw the second highest overall average after London.

The fly-tipping figures were based on incidents of illegal dumping of waste or rubbish reported by local authorities.

Seven of the 12 councils in the region reported an overall drop, with Redcar and Cleveland Council seeing the largest total fall from 6,983 to 5,317.

It said permanent cameras in fly-tipping hotspots had been an "effective deterrent".

The fly-tipping recorded included rubbish being dumped in back alleyways and in watercourses.

Northumberland County Council, another local authority to see a drop, said it had taken a "hard-hitting approach".

It said it had also installed cameras and carried out leaflet drops in areas where fly-tipping was prevalent.

More enforcement action was also taken in the North East in 2024/25 compared with the year before, including fines and court prosecutions.

Durham County Council, which saw 500 fewer fly-tipping reports, said education and enforcement were key to its lower levels.

Neighbourhood protection manager Ian Hoult said it had run its Operation Stop awareness campaign for more than 10 years.

"Meanwhile, we have a range of tools at our disposal to dissuade this blight on our landscape, including deploying cameras in previously targeted locations, closing lay-bys if necessary, seizing vehicles and issuing fixed penalty notices (FPNs)," he said.

South Tyneside Council also saw a drop and said it always investigated fly-tipping reports and carried out patrols.

"The council also offers a bulky waste collection service," a spokesperson said.

Not all the councils recorded a drop, such as Newcastle City Council which had the region's largest increase in fly-tipping incidents with 16,731 in 2024/25, compared with 15,874 the year before.

The council said not all councils recorded fly-tipping in the same way and its metric included "many types of waste disposal".

It said being a major city, Newcastle experienced higher levels of fly-tipping than other places.

"Fly-tipping is an abhorrent crime, and we have a zero tolerance to it as we appreciate the terrible impact it has on our communities," a spokesperson said.

The council said it had carried out 39% of all fly-tipping prosecutions in the region and secured 46% of all custodial sentences nationally.

It comes as fly-tipping incidents across the rest of England rose, according to the data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Local authorities dealt with 1,257,863 incidents in 2024/25, up by 9% year on year.

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