Farmer Colin Rayner’s fields

Local councils have cleared away more than one million incidents of fly-tipping, latest Government figures reveal.

The bill came to more than £13 million – but the number of court fines raised just £785,000.

In a bid to stop the rising cases of tipping farmers and landowners have taken to fortifying their farms in “mediaeval forts”.

Many have blocked farm yard entrances with huge concrete blocks.

Others have dug “tank trap” ditches to prevent vans and lorries gaining access to fields.

And some have used security guards.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said fly-tipping on private land and fields is “going unrecorded on a mass scale”.

Mr Colin Rayner

Farmer Colin Rayner, who has 2,000 acres of arable land said he has waste dumped on his land most weekends.

Mr Rayner told the Daily Telegraph:

“The annual clean-up costs are unimaginable and affecting my business.

“We have even had an incident where we were combining in a field, and a lorry drove in, opened its tailgate and tipped a load of rubbish out and drove off again.

“They are that brazen.

“The clean-up costs are unimaginable and affecting the viability of the business”.

Ironically, farmers face prosecution if they do not clear away fly-tipped rubbish.

Mr Rayner said:

“It shouldn’t be this way, but any farm in this area is doing the same.

“At one time their fields wouldn’t be gated – they are now starting to gate their fields.”

The CLA said a recent survey estimated that two-thirds of farmers and landowners were affected by the fly-tipping of tonnes of household and commercial waste.

Often hazardous chemicals and asbestos are dumped – endangering farm workers, walkers, wildlife, livestock, and the environment.

Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, said: “These fly-tipping figures barely scratch the surface of a crime that’s blighting rural communities, with incidents on private land going unrecorded on a mass scale.”