MORE than £45,000 was spent clearing up 664 fly-tipping incidents across Taunton Deane in one year.

Latest figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, show that the authority forked out £49,308 to clear up the messes left between 2016-17.

Of the 664 incidents in Taunton Deane, 285 were incidents on highways, and 30 were on council land.

In West Somerset, £11,731 was spent clearing up 141 incidents.

Out of the 141 incidents in West Somerset, 98 involved highways and 10 on council land.

Although no prosecutions or fixed penalty notices were made in Taunton Deane, the borough spent £132 investigating just four incidents, compared to the £4,422 West Somerset Council spent investigating 134 incidents, but still no prosecutions or fixed penalty notices given out. Taunton Deane did send out two warning letters, costing £66.

The majority of the incidents in Taunton Deane were classified as 'transit van load' size, of which there were 336, with 78 for West Somerset.

On the smaller scale of the problem, there were 70 incidents involved a single item, and 12 involving a single black bag in Taunton Deane. There were no single item incidents in West Somerset, but 14 single black bag incidents.

Cllr Martin Tett, the Local Government Association’s environment spokesman, said: “Litter and fly-tipping is environmental vandalism – it’s unpleasant, unnecessary and unacceptable. Not only does fly-tipping create an eyesore for residents, it is also a serious public health risk, creating pollution and attracting rats and other vermin.

“Clearing up fly-tipping is costing councils more than £57 million a year – money that could be spent on other services, like caring for the elderly, protecting children or tackling homelessness. It is unacceptable that they are having to spend vast amounts each year tackling this scourge.

“The Government has responded to our call for councils to be able to apply Fixed Penalty Notices for small scale fly-tipping – and this is a big step in the right direction. When they take offenders to court, councils need a faster and more effective legal system which means fly-tippers are given hard-hitting fines for more serious offences. Manufacturers also need to provide more take-back services so people can hand in old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones.”

Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council have been approached for comment.


Taunton Deane incidents include: 

Highways – 285

Footpath – 261

Back alleyways – 16

Railway – 0

Council land – 90

Agricultural – 1

Private residential – 4

Commercial/industrial incidents – 5

Water course – 1

Other – 1

Animal carcass – 2

Green – 31

Vehicle parts – 20

White goods – 41

Other electrical – 11

Tyres – 18

Asbestos – 1

Clinical – 3

Construction – 71

Black bags (commercial) – 12

Black bags (household) 113

Chemical drums – 5

West Somerset incidents include: 

Highways –98

Footpath – 27

Back alleyways – 4

Railway – 1

Council land – 10

Agricultural – 1

Private residential – 0

Commercial/industrial incidents – 0

Water course – 0

Other – 0

Animal carcass – 1

Green – 6

Vehicle parts – 3

White goods – 15

Other electrical – 2

Tyres – 14

Asbestos – 0

Clinical – 0

Construction – 20

Black bags (commercial) – 4

Black bags (household) - 27

Chemical drums – 4