Evesham litter picker despairs of fly-tipping sites

The volunteer said more action was needed as culprits were "getting away with it".

The amount of fly-tipping in Evesham is "disgusting" and piles of rubbish have been dubbed "grot spots", a volunteer litter picker has said.

Laura Van Toller encounters everything from piles of discarded tyres to yoghurt pots as she scours the area.

She said more action was needed as culprits were "getting away with it".

Wychavon District Council said it prosecuted fly-tippers whenever possible, but it was often hard to find enough evidence.

There were 878 reports of fly-tipping in the district in the twelve months to April 2023, but only six fines were handed out, a BBC investigation has found.

There were almost 6000 reports of fly-tipping across Herefordshire and Worcestershire as a whole in that period, versus 155 fines.

Ms Van Toller showed the BBC a site where sofas and tyres had been dumped by the busy A44 road.

Ms Van Toller showed BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester two places where rubbish had been dumped in and around Evesham, one of which was on the busy A44 road.

The sites contained tyres, rubble, sofas, clothes and general litter such as food boxes.

"You look at it and you are completely stunned," said Ms Van Toller, who is part of the Anti-Litter Evesham volunteer group.

• Listen on BBC Sounds: Laura Van Toller takes us to fly-tipping sites

Wychavon District Council said many fly-tipping incidents involved green waste that was particularly hard to trace back to a specific person. It also urged residents to only use licensed waste-carriers to dispose of their rubbish.

Neighbouring councils echoed this sentiment.

"It's really difficult to catch these people who just don't care about our beautiful countryside," said Marcus Hart, leader of Wyre Forest District Council, adding that culprits often dumped rubbish on country lanes at night.

Wyre Forest handed out 85 fly-tipping fines in twelve months to April 2023, which was a relatively high figure, but Mr Hart said this was still "a drop in the ocean".