London fly-tipping: These are the boroughs with the most incidents last year

A number of London boroughs saw an increase in fly-tipping last year, with Tower Hamlets recording the sharpest rise.

According to government data, fly-tipping incidents in the east London borough increased from 8,199 in 2021/22 to 15,861 in 2022/23 - almost doubling.

Barnet saw its numbers rise from 5,907 to 9,763 cases, with Westminster's increasing from 18,749 to 30,737.

Brent recorded the highest number of cases of any English authority, with 34,830 incidents in 2022/23.

Seven other boroughs came in the top 10, based on the number of incidents: Camden, Westminster, Hackney, Hounslow, Lewisham, Croydon and Haringey.

Borough by borough breakdown of fly-tipping incidents

These figures show the number of fly-tipping incidents in each London borough from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

• Barking and Dagenham: 2,714 up to 3,845 
• Barnet: 5,907 up to 9,763
• Bexley: 5,096 down to 3,633
• Brent: 35,840 down to 34,830
• Bromley: 3,558 up to 3,626
• Camden: 32,517 down to 31,457
• City of London: 2,497 up to 2,998
• Croydon: 26,659 down to 22,852
• Ealing: 12,303 up to 12,922  
• Enfield: 5,462 up to 5,505
• Greenwich: 8,666 up to 9,524
• Hammersmith & Fulham: 20,032 down to 13504
• Haringey: 20,056 up to 22,198
• Harrow: 2022/23 9802 up to 9222
• Havering: 3029 up to 3249
• Hillingdon: 6,967 down to 5,517
• Hounslow: 610 down to 26,135
• Islington: 1,404 down to 1,292
• Kensington and Chelsea: 8,569 down to 7,263
• Kingston: 4,363 down to 3,721
• Lambeth: 5,205 up to 5,951  
• Lewisham: 29,515 down to 24,327
• Merton: 17,714 up to 17,914
• Newham: 25,879 down to 17,497
• Redbridge: 6035 up to 6713
• Richmond upon Thames: 2569 up to 3,675
• Southwark: 22,553 down to 18, 676
• Tower Hamlets: 8,199 up to 15,861
• Waltham Forest: 9813 down to 9160
• Wandsworth: 6015 up to 6094
• Westminster: 18,749 up to 30,737

Boroughs where figures decreased

In contrast to the boroughs that saw an increase, the number of Bexley incidents fell from 5,096 to 3,633, while in Hammersmith & Fulham the numbers went from 20,032 to 13,504.

Redbridge saw a drop in fly-tipping incidents from 25,879 down to 17,497, with Southwark reducing cases from 22,553 down to 18, 676.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fly-tipping is the illegal disposal of household, industrial, commercial or other ‘controlled’ waste. The waste can be liquid or solid.

Last summer the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) increased the fixed penalty notices fines for fly-tipping offenders.

Since July 10 2023, the maximum amount those caught fly-tipping could be fined increased from £400 to £1,000, while maximum fines for those who litter or graffiti increased from £150 to £500.

Former environment secretary Thérèse Coffey said at the time: “Everyone loathes litter louts and people who dump rubbish. We are increasing the penalties local councils can apply for this behaviour that spoils our streets and harms nature.”

Councils

A Tower Hamlets spokesperson said:“Flytipping and littering is an issue in any major city. There is even greater pressure in areas like Tower Hamlets as an inner-city area and the mostly densely populated borough in the country.

“Our waste teams respond as quickly as possible to reports of flytipping. Investigations and prosecutions have also increased including where businesses neglect to dispose of their commercial waste properly.

 “However, more needs to be done which is why the council is proposing a further £5m of investment into waste services in the upcoming budget. This would fund an additional 72 frontline workers along with increases in night-time and weekend rounds, new rapid response teams, and a modernisation of the service and optimisation of waste routes.”

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Brent Council's cabinet member environment, infrastructure and climate action, said: "Keeping Brent clean and green is at the heart of everything we do.

"The vast majority of residents take huge pride in their streets and we thank hundreds of them who help us pick it up, through mass litter-picking events and other initiatives.

"We are taking serious steps to decrease the amount of rubbish littered on our streets in many ways, mainly through our award-winning Wanted campaign which plasters pictures of fly-tippers across the borough asking for information on who they are, and when we find them we can give them a hefty fine."

Darren Rodwell, the Local Government Association's environment spokesperson, said: "Fly-tipping is inexcusable. We continue to urge the government to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, so that offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences to act as a deterrent.

"Manufacturers should also contribute to the costs to councils of clear-up, by providing more take-back services so people can hand in old furniture and mattresses when they buy new ones."

Recycling minister Robbie Moore said overall enforcement was up by 6% and fly-tipping had decreased for the second year in a row "but we know there is more to do".

"That's why we are helping councils to take the fight to criminals with additional grants to tackle fly-tipping, higher £1,000 on-the-spot fines for offenders and powers to stop, search, and seize vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping," he said.