City of London tops fly-tipping league of shame

A new report by Expert Market has revealed the locations in England with the worst levels of illegal rubbish dumping – and The City of London tops the list.

The research cross-references data from 324 local authorities, contrasting the number of fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people with house prices.

Expert Market believes their study reveals that there is a clear correlation between affluent neighbourhoods and rubbish dumping.

With the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) recent announcement that businesses and homeowners could face personal fines and steep court costs if they’re discovered to have used unauthorised waste disposal companies.

Of all the local authorities in England, their study found that The City of London has the highest fly-tipping rate of 238 incidents per 1,000 people, which is equivalent to one in every five people living there illegally dumping rubbish.

As well as The City of London; Enfield, Haringey, Hounslow, Hammersmith & Fulham and Croydon all make it into the worst ten zones for unlawful rubbish dumping. Enfield (227) and Haringey (122) have fly-tipping rates of over 100 incidents per 1,000 people two of the highest densities of all the localities in the study.

In Kensington and Chelsea, which is the most expensive place to live in the UK, fly-tipping rates are at 57 per 1,000 people, the 12th worst in the study.

Lucy Crossfield lead researcher at Expert Market: ‘Most people living in London will be familiar with the problem of fly tipping, it is a sadly familiar sight on our streets. Despite paying premiums to live in these boroughs, many of us are used to stepping around debris dumped by unscrupulous traders or residents.

‘There are so many ways to dispose of rubbish cheaply or entirely for free and this shows that more has to be done to make people aware of their options – and the consequences they face for not disposing of rubbish correctly. Sadly, many of these loads are dumped by unlicensed rubbish removal companies who claim to dispose of things responsibly but then drive to the next borough and dump it under the cover of darkness.

‘The responsibility will now lie with the customer to check the credentials of the company they use, which will hopefully drive these rogue traders out of business and make our streets a lot cleaner.’

Read their study here.