Peterborough farmer 'end of my rope' with fly-tippers
Figures show there's been a rise in fly-tipping in the city
A farmer near Peterborough has said they're running out of patience when it comes to dealing with fly-tippers.
The farmer - who has chosen to stay anonymous - said this week alone, rubbish has been illegally dumped on their farm around "three, four times".
Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) found in the year to March 2025, there were 10,474 separate incidents of fly-tipping, an increase of 346 on the year before.
The next highest in Cambridgeshire was in Huntingdonshire, with 3,560.
"I've got to the end of my rope with it, to the point me and our staff litter-picked every piece of rubbish we could piece along our stretch of road, which is just under a kilometre long," the farmer said.
"It took us a day and a half (to clear up)."
From food to car bumpers
DEFRA figures show for the 2024/25 year, local authorities in England dealt with 1.26 million incidents, an increase of 9% from the 1.15m cases reported in 2023/24.
For the latest 12-month period, there were 777,000 incidents that involved household waste, a rise of 13% on the previous year.
While the most common place for fly-tippers to dump their waste was on pavements and roads, which accounted for more than a third of total incidents.
In Peterborough, DEFRA found the number of fly-tipping cases involving tipper lorry loads and significant or multi-loads of waste was 188, which is 108 lower than the year before.
The farmer we spoke to has seen many types of waste dumped on their land.
"Everything you would see in your kitchen bin, you see in our ditches and gateways, to more commercial items that have clearly come from things like car garages, (like) car bumpers and tyres," they said.
"We drive down the road every morning and if anything is freshly thrown out that night, we'll just pick it up and take it away.
"Mostly (for) a matter of just pride of the landscape, but also just to check there's nothing more."
Crushing vehicles part of Government action
The Government has issued guidance to local councils in how to tackle fly-tipping, including how to seize and crush vehicles that are dumping waste.
Councils are also expected to name and shame those involved on social media, while also sharing images and videos of their vehicles being crushed, according to the guidance.
Councillor Angus Ellis, cabinet member for transport and environment at Peterborough City Council, said "several measures" have been introduced to crack down on the problem.
"(These include) investing money in new cameras in hotspot locations and are working with communities to educate them about correct waste disposal," he said.
"We have also set up a cross-party task and finish group to specifically look at fly-tipping and increased fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping offences to the maximum amount."
'A downward spiral'
For one farmer, fly-tipping has felt like normality because of how often it happens.
But they want to see a different approach to make sure others like them, such as those who live and work in the countryside, are better protected.
"It's a downward spiral where this did not used to happen, and now it happens so often, it's become normal," they added.
"It's now how people should live their lives.
"The whole situation can be resolved by ease of disposable (waste), punishment for people who are caught and society in general deciding that we just don't want this."