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In many rural areas doctors surgeries have dispensing services which allow patients who live far from pharmacies to pick up prescription medicines. This is particularly important for elderly and less mobile individuals.

Fly-tipping is the illegal deposit of any waste onto land, i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no license.  Fly-tipped waste generally consists of large items of rubbish that are dumped illegally on land instead of being disposed of properly at a landfill site tip, often referred to as ‘dumping’.

UK waste comes under controls that impose a duty to ensure that waste is disposed of properly.  Only holders of a Waste Management License can recover, transport, deposit, or dispose of waste.  Waste can only be deposited at officially authorised sites.  Anyone fly-tipping waste is committing a serious offence.

Most people fly-tip to avoid paying the disposal fee or landfill tax.  Household rubbish is already paid for through council tax, but other waste is not, and a charge generally exists to have this waste removed or even to drop off at a licensed tip yourself.

Fly-tipping fines can be anything up to £50,000 and/or six months imprisonment.  Fines are unlimited if the case goes to Crown Court or up to two years imprisonment, and even five years if the waste is hazardous.  It is also an offence to permit or authorise fly-tipping in land where a Waste Management License is not held.  Where fly-tipping involves the use of a vehicle, the driver can be prosecuted, as can the owner of the vehicle.  The police have powers to seize any vehicle used for fly-tipping.

Getting rid of waste the right way

Any one who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste or acts as a broker has control of such waste has a Duty of Care to ensure it is managed properly, recovered or disposed of safely, does not cause harm to human health or pollution of the environment and is only transferred to someone who is authorised to receive it. A breach of the Duty of Care is an offence, and can result in a penalty of up to £5000 on summary conviction or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.

Your council is not obliged to remove any bulky household waste, e.g. fridge's, sofas, etc. If you need to dispose of any bulky waste (some local authorities include garden waste as bulky waste), you must contact your council's waste collection service. Some local authorities charge to use this waste collection service. Alternatively, you can take it yourself to your local tip or civic amenity site. Follow this link to find your local authority for more information on waste collection services.

If you use a waste contractor to remove any waste from your property you must ensure they have a valid Waste Carrier License (WCL). These licenses are required by businesses that transfer waste. Failure to use a company that holds a Waste Carrier License could result in you getting a large fine or conviction. If you use a contractor make sure you ask to see a valid Waste Carrier License – do not use contractors which don’t have one.

Local Authorities in England report that they had dealt with 1.28 million incidents of fly-tipping – a 7.5% decrease from 2006-07

The estimated cost of clearance of illegally dumped waste reported by local authorities in this period was £73.8 million – that’s roughly £14,680 per month

Fly-tipping incidents on private land are currently not recorded but the Government estimates it costs land owners upwards of £47 million

Local authorities carried out 1,871 prosecutions in 2007-08, of which 95% achieved a successful outcome.

It is estimated that local authorities spent £16.8 million on enforcement action against fly-tipping in 2007-08

54% of all fly-tips were recorded as being in the car boot or small van load size category

60% of fly-tips dealt with by local authorities involved household waste such as black bags - this is approximately the same as 2006-07.

11% of all fly-tips recorded involved single black bags. 50% of all recorded fly-tips occurred on the highway.

The number of inspections carried out by local authorities to check for compliance with the waste duty of care has increased from 25,745 in 2006-07 to 39,485 in 2007-08.

In February 2007 polling commissioned by the Countryside Alliance showed that 74% of peopl

The Law

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (CNEA) gives local authorities and the Environment Agency powers to tackle fly-tipping and the courts the ability to impose penalties.

Fly-tipping is a criminal offence. The CNEA increased the penalties for dumping waste in England and Wales – fly-tippers can now be fined up to £50,000 and/or six months imprisonment in Magistrates’ Courts and face unlimited fines in higher courts, as well as community punishment orders or prison sentences of up to five years.

Those convicted of fly-tipping offences can now be made to pay the costs of enforcement and investigation, as well as the clean-up costs.  It is also an offence to permit or authorise fly-tipping on land where a Waste Management Licence is not held.  Where fly-tipping involves the use of a vehicle, the driver can be prosecuted, as can the owner of the vehicle and the police have powers to seize vehicles used for fly-tipping.