Fly-tipping is a serious issue in the UK – but despite hefty fines and even potential prison sentences for offenders, it’s also a common problem, with one instance of fly-tipping reported once every 27 seconds in England.
It’s not just an eyesore for residents, but it also costs local councils millions of pounds a year to resolve.
Click or scroll through and let's explore the most severely affected areas...
Fly-tipping is classified as the illegal disposal of household, industrial and commercial waste. London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves analysed the latest government figures on the annual number of fly-tipping incidents across every local authority in England, in the period between April 2023 to March 2024.
It found that, by far, Londoners are the worst offenders. London boroughs accounted for eight of the worst 10 fly-tipping local authorities. The problem increased by over 6% compared to the previous year, with over 1.1 million incidents taking place.
60% of fly-tips over the same period involved household waste. Commonly dumped items include fridges, freezers, mattresses and sofas. Other frequently seen items include black bin bags of rubbish left next to bins.
Commercial waste is also common, such as building waste like wiring, carpets or bricks. Householders are legally responsible for disposing of waste safely, and can face a fine if they’ve entrusted the disposal of their rubbish to an irresponsible waste carrier.
In March 2025, bin workers in Birmingham began a strike over the council’s decision to remove the roles of waste recycling and collection officers, which union members say will leave around 150 members £8,000 worse off.
The strikes have caused havoc in the city, which has led to bin bags and fly-tipped rubbish piled up on the streets. There is an estimated 17,000 tonnes of rubbish across the city that was not collected over the first four weeks of the strike, and residents fear "rats as big as cats” as the waste piles up.
The punishments for fly-tipping are severe. The typical fixed penalty notice fine is either £400 or £1,000, depending on the council you’re caught fly-tipping in.
If you don’t pay your fine, or are found to be a persistent offender, you can be fined up to £50,000 in a magistrates’ court or an unlimited amount in crown court. You could even face a community sentence or imprisonment of up to five years.
Now let's take a look at the worst offending areas...
One of only two of the worst offenders outside of London, Liverpool is in tenth place with 20,003 incidents reported in 2023 to 2024.
The council revealed in 2025 that clearing fly-tipping costs around £1 million a year, taking that hefty sum from other services that need it within Liverpool. The council recently employed a new enforcement team to identify and punish offenders, and it announced in February 2025 that it’s recruiting an external partner to beef up its enforcement efforts.
Southwark saw an increase of 14.8% in fly-tipping, with 22,912 reported incidents.
The council has enlisted the help of local residents in clamping down on fly-tipping. An app and web service called FixMyStreet allows users to report dumped waste, as well as other local issues such as graffiti and overflowing bins.
The City of Westminster is home to some of the capital’s swankiest sights, such as Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and The National Gallery: but it’s not immune to fly-tipping, with 25,531 incidents reported.
In an attempt to tackle the problem, Westminster Council is using CCTV cameras equipped with artificial intelligence. The cameras can recognise fly-tipping and note the registration plates of offending vehicles, starting the ball rolling for issuing fines or beginning criminal proceedings.
A well-meaning sign may have asked visitors to this Brent location to take their rubbish home, but the request clearly fell on deaf ears, with fly tippers leaving behind cardboard boxes, kitchen appliances and even a gigantic sofa.
These are just a handful of fly-tipping instances in the London borough of Brent, where 27,023 incidents were reported between 2023 and 2024. The good news, however, is that that figure actually marked a reduction of 22.4% year on year.
In Hounslow, fly-tipping increased by 4.2% year-on-year, with 27,241 incidents reported over the same time period.
In 2025, the council published an announcement revealing that: “at £124 per tonne to dispose of the waste, not including collection, it means Hounslow Council taxpayers have to pay around £370,000 every year to keep the streets clear of litter.” As a deterrent, the council increased fly-tipping fines from £400 to £1,000.
Liking this? Click the Like button above. And click the Follow button above for more great stories from loveMONEY
An authoritative sign warns against fly-tipping in this photograph, taken in Lewisham – but whoever dumped their stuff here clearly took no notice.
Lewisham had 27,599 fly-tipping incidents in 2023 to 2024, an increase of 13.5% from the previous year. In the borough, a massive 80% of fly-tipping incidents took place on its highways.
The highest offender in England outside of London, the city of Nottingham endured 30,511 incidents during the same time period. Astonishingly, fly-tipping saw an increase of 43.3% year on year, signifying a huge challenge for the council.
More bad news came in the form of 2025 news reports showing council street cleaners committing fly-tipping offences themselves, while they were supposed to be clearing litter.
In third place, Hackney dealt with 33,464 fly-tipping incidents, a marked increase of 21.8% from the previous year.
The council employs enforcement officers who cycle round on e-bikes, even working at night to clamp down on would-be fly-tippers.
In the penultimate spot is the trendy London borough of Camden, with a staggering 34,786 fly-tipping incidents reported.
The council is now prepared to deal with the influx of fly-tipping by increasing its fixed penalty notice charges from £400 to £1,000 to deter offenders.
In the unenviable top spot, Croydon is England’s worst offender when it comes to fly-tipping. There were 35,470 incidents reported in 2023 to 2024 – shockingly, marking an annual change of 55.2%. The council had to deal with over 10 times the UK average of fly-tipping.
The problem isn’t just an eyesore for residents, but it’s expensive too. Croydon Council spent over £1 million clearing up fly-tipping in just one year – it’s not cheap being the capital of fly-tipping.
Liked this? Click the Like button above. And click the Follow button above for more great stories from loveMONEY