Crime

Fly-tipping: Organised crime behind 'large rise'

Organised criminal gangs are being blamed for the continued rise of large fly-tipping incidents across the UK.

Experts said fake companies hired out buildings to dump clients' waste, costing local authorities almost £60m in clean-up costs since 2012.

Parts of London and Manchester have been hardest hit by a growing "crisis" in illegal waste removal services.

The government says the rise in incidents could be down to better recording.

...Gangs will pose as legitimate waste disposal businesses, advertising their services on the internet for a cost, she added.

The BBC Shared Data Unit found:
Large-scale fly-tipping - defined as tipper lorry load or more in size - has more than doubled in six years
Last year, councils faced a £12.8m bill to clear more than 36,200 large tips. That accounted for more than a fifth of the overall cost of clearing fly-tips
Marc Lidderth, an area manager for the Environment Agency, said fly-tipping crime was "the new narcotics".

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) said new figures highlighted a "nightmare" situation that continued to "spiral out of control"...