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Mansfield Council has urged people to dispose of their waste responsibly after more than 2,000 incidents of fly-tipping cost the authority almost £100,000 to deal with last year.

The council investigates each fly-tip, and the authority issued 12 £400 fixed penalty notices for either fly-tipping or failing in a householder or business’s duty of care during 2022/23.

Figures shared with the council’s overview and scrutiny committee showed there were 2,133 incidents in 2022/23, costing a total of £99,054 to clear up – in 2021/22, 1,259 incidents were recorded, costing £60,535 to clear.

The report showed the majority of fly tips were on public highways, footpaths, bridleways and council land, with general household waste most commonly dumped – one incident can represent anything from a single black bag of rubbish to a van load.

Andy Abrahams, Mansfield mayor, said: "Residents are sick and tired of fly-tipping blighting their neighbourhoods.

"The dramatic increase in incidents represents an epidemic we need to get on top of. Council taxpayers effectively pay for this £100,000 bill to clean up and investigate environmental crimes. Think of what we could do with that money instead.

"It is the equivalent cost of creating a new play area or installing 10 large items of play equipment to improve existing play areas. It could resurface and refurbish eight of our tennis courts or buy 200 new dual waste litter bins for the district or 285 benches.

“I want to assure residents we are going to increase our efforts to catch the perpetrators as the collective costs of clearing up all of the rubbish is astronomical, and the fines aren’t a sufficient deterrent.”

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The council has a duty to clear fly tips on public land. They can be reported at mansfield.gov.uk/report or by calling 01623 463463.

To help tackle fly-tipping, the council offers free bulky waste collections for households on the Oak Tree, Bull Farm and Bellamy Road estates, as well as parts of Portland ward and Warsop and Meden Vale.

Residents in these priority neighbourhoods qualify for one free collection per year for up to three standard items, such as beds, mattresses, wardrobes, and bagged waste.

For more information on waste collection and recycling, see mansfield.gov.uk/bins-recycling

Fly-tipping costs Mansfield council tax payers £100k