'There is a vicious cycle of fly-tipping on our estate'

"It's dead easy come round here at night and dump stuff, even in the day," explained Andy Beal, "I've seen people driving vans and they have dumped all their stuff out."

He lives in one of Oxfordshire's largest housing estates and said fly-tipping around the area has become a regular occurrence because "it's dead easy".

Beal, who lives in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, said fly-tipping was not an issue when he first moved to the area, but it had "got worse over the years".

He said local authority measures, including fees to have large waste collected from homes, were "putting barriers in front of people" who were trying to properly dispose of waste.

His comments come as Oxford City Council announce plans to crackdown on fly-tipping, including introducing free collection for bulky waste.

Beal explained that a lot of the waste was left in alleyways, behind garages and people's gardens around Blackbird Leys.

He said some residents have found it difficult to access their gardens due to fly-tipping.

Oxford City Council's plans to bring back free bulky waste collections and introduce community wardens to help police the issue were approved at the authority's most recent budget meeting.

It agreed to spend £102,000 each year on the removal of bulky waste, with a further £40,000 spent on dealing with pent up demand.

Nigel Chapman, from the authority, admitted that fly-tipping was a "vicious cycle" that "needs to be tackled".

"People in Oxford have a pride in their community, they do not want to see criminals dumping stuff in their neighbourhood," he added.

As well as waste collection fees, Beal blamed a new advanced booking system in place at Oxfordshire's recycling centres for the increase in fly-tipping.

A new booking system for residents using the county's seven household waste recycling centres was introduced in January 2026.

In a statement Oxfordshire County Council said: "The system had been designed to be straightforward and easy to use.

"There is currently no evidence to suggest that these changes would lead to an increase in fly-tipping and to date other local authorities with long established booking systems have not identified such issues."

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