Hertfordshire farmer left with 40 tonnes of fly-tipped waste on her land

Eveey Hunter was forced to pay £6,000 for two lorries to remove the rubbish.

She believes that the waste had been dumped on her fields during a number of trips over several weeks.

Ms Hunter told the BBC that she does not tend to go into the fields until this time of year, and this is how the rubbish has accumulated without her being aware of it.

“I think it’s probably a few people who know each other; they’ve been effectively using it as a free tip and going through the effort of shutting the gate every time so we wouldn’t notice,” she added.

READ MORE: Campaigners call for crime strategy as fly-tipping incidents on farms exceed 1 million in a year 
READ MORE: Cash from perpetrators will help communities beat littering and fly-tipping

‘Massive strain’

The NFU estimates that at least two-thirds of farmers, nationally, have been affected by fly-tipping.

With farmers and landowners often legally responsible for removing the rubbish, despite being the victim of the crime, the clear-up costs the industry tens of millions of pounds a year.

A spokesperson for the NFU said: “The illegal dumping of waste is a massive strain on the public purse as local authorities and the Environment Agency tackle rubbish dumped on public land. Fly-tipping also harms the environment and blights the countryside.”

The NFU believes the whole system needs to tackle fly-tipping at the source – from packaging design, recycling, landfill tax and tip opening hours – to make it easier for the public to reduce, re-use and recycle waste.

Read more rural crime news.