A new interactive map highlights the areas across England most affected by fly-tipping, with Birmingham standing out as a significant hotspot. In the year leading up to March 2025, local authorities recorded 1.25 million fly-tipping incidents, marking a 9% increase from the previous year.
These incidents included 777,000 collections of household waste—ranging from bin bags to discarded furniture and carpets—7,000 cases involving animal carcasses, 70,000 commercial waste dumps, and 3,000 incidents containing hazardous materials like asbestos.
London boroughs experienced the highest number of fly-tipping incidents per capita. However, Birmingham faced the largest burden from industrial-scale dumping. The city recorded 3,462 large-scale incidents involving tipper trucks or substantial waste deposits, costing local taxpayers £2.10 million for cleanup. This expense translates to approximately £1.78 per resident.
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South London’s Croydon had the highest volume of fly-tipping incidents in total, with 53,000 cases, including 1,585 large-scale dumps. Camden recorded the highest rate of fly-tipping per population, with 36,126 incidents—equivalent to about 167 incidents per 1,000 residents, or roughly one illegal dump per six people. Croydon followed with 130 incidents per 1,000 residents, and Hackney recorded 116.
Beyond London, Nottingham faced the most severe fly-tipping issue, reporting 26,138 incidents or 79 per 1,000 people, followed by Great Yarmouth (77) and Boston in Lincolnshire (66).
Leeds taxpayers paid the next highest cleanup costs for industrial-scale dumping, at £1.63 per person, followed by Wirral at £1.33.
While Defra has not published costs for all fly-tipping cleanups, data on large-scale dumps reveal councils spent £19.26 million clearing 52,000 such cases—a figure that increased by 11% year on year.
Fly-tipping most often involves household waste, which accounts for 62% of incidents, with common dumping sites including pavements and roads (37%). Nearly a third of incidents (31%) involved waste volumes equivalent to a small van load, while 27% were comparable to a car boot or less.
In response to the rise in fly-tipping, councils issued 572,000 enforcement actions (up 8%) and 69,000 fixed penalty notices (up 9%). Despite this, court fines decreased by 9% to 1,250, with the total value falling from £730,000 to £673,000. Vehicle seizures also increased, with 139 vehicles confiscated last year.
To tackle the issue, Defra has introduced new guidance to assist councils in seizing and crushing vehicles used for fly-tipping or repurposing them for cleanup work, alongside updated advice on pursuing court cases. Authorities are also encouraged to publicly name and shame offenders on social media.
Defra Minister Mary Creagh stated: “We are empowering local authorities to clamp down on waste cowboys and restore pride in our local areas. Fly-tippers should know—if you use your van to trash our countryside, don’t be surprised when it ends up on the scrapheap.”