Flytipping incidents in Hertsmere have risen for the fifth year running.

New figures released this week show there were 869 incidents of fly tipping in the borough from April 2017 to January 2018, up from 800 for the whole of the previous year.

Since 2010, Hertsmere Borough Council has spent £200,000 removing waste and dealing with fly tipping incidents.

The latest figures coincide with the new county wide SCRAP campaign which has been bought in to warn people to be aware of who is actually taking their waste away.

The Hertfordshire Fly Tipping group said that fly tipping cost Hertfordshire taxpayers £1m last year.

Read more: Campaign launched to tackle fly tipping problem

Councillor Seamus Quilty, portfolio holder for environment and transport said: “Day after day we are asked to remove a steady stream of illegally dumped waste from Hertsmere’s roads, green spaces and alleyways.

“Our officers work tirelessly to investigate cases, and as a consequence we’ve had a number of high-profile prosecutions.

“In Hertsmere, for some time now we’ve been highlighting the dangers of using unlicensed waste carriers in a bid to help stop the crime at source.

“I hope the campaign by the Hertfordshire Fly Tipping Group will help to reinforce the message that as a homeowner if you have passed your unwanted items or bags of waste to someone without a licence then you are just as culpable for the flytipping as the person who actually put it there.”

Gavin Burns, principal environmental health officer, said: “If your waste is flytipped, you could face criminal prosecution, even if you didn’t put it there, because you will have failed in your duty of care as set out in the Environment Protection Act 1990.

“Our advice is always get a receipt for any waste that you ask to be disposed of and check that the person doing the disposing has a waste carrier's licence. If in doubt give the council’s Environmental Health team a call on 020 8207 2277.”