Fly-tipping in Milton Keynes has increased to record levels

Fly-tipping in Milton Keynes has increased to its worst ever levels, it has been revealed.

Figures for March show there were 631 reports of fly-tipping incidents documented, making it the worst month in the past year.

Fly-tipped rubbish was being reported 20 times a day - an increase from the average 13 reports a day seen across the year.

In the first three months of this year alone, MK Council received a massive 1,515 reports of rubbish being dumped on verges, estates and public areas.

The unsavoury subject was a hot topic in MK’s recent local elections, with local Conservatives pledging to wage a war against fly-tipping.

They promised to end the tip-booking system, increase CCTV at hotspots, and begin a temporary waste amnesty which would have included temporary community skips and waiving of bulky collection charges.

Recently The Parks Trust have urged members of the public to report incidents of fly-tipping in local green spaces. They estimate it has cost them £350,000 over the past year to deal with removing fly-tipped rubbish and litter from local green spaces.

Cllr Alex Walker, leader of the Conservative group in MK said the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition controlling MK Council was now having to face their first real challenge in coalition together.

"As fly-tipping figures spiral out of control, residents will be seeking assurances on what measures will be taken to keep MK’s green spaces clean and tidy," he said.

He added: “Fly-tipping came up on the doorstep a lot during the election and residents were rightly frustrated with the council’s lacklustre and lazy approach to reducing fly-tipping in MK.

"The figures revealed from March are awful and Labour’s record on reducing fly-tipping in MK is nothing to be proud of.

"We promised to wage a war on fly-tipping in our campaign and the residents backed us. The new coalition must now get a grip on the issue before we see even more record-breaking months.”