THE Country Land & Business Association (CLA) and local authorities are calling for tougher penalties on fly-tipping.

The countyside campaigner has joined forces with 158 local authorities in England to demand tougher court sanctions on fly-tipping after a surge in illegal dumping during the pandemic.

The maximum fine for fly-tipping is £50,000 and/or a five-year prison sentence, yet 83 percent of court-imposed fines in the past six years have been below £500.

Only two people have been given the maximum fine since new guidelines were introduced in 2014.

The CLA says sentences handed down by courts don’t always match the severity of the crime or reflect the costs incurred by the public purse, and are therefore not a deterrent for offenders..

It has signed a letter sent to the Sentencing Council by councillor Eric Buckmaster, chairman of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership, which also calls for wider use of community sentences focusing on clearing litter and fly-tipping when a defendant doesn’t have the means to pay a fine.

The signatories believe this approach would be “widely supported” by the public and would lead to greater recognition of the issue.

The letter says average fines issued by the courts are currently below the level of a FPN.