Local authorities are quick to complain that they receive insufficient funding to meet the responsibilities heaped on their shoulders, particularly during the annual tug-of-war with Whitehall over council grants. Yet their long-term failure to confront fly-tipping amounts to a self-inflicted financial wound.

The unscrupulous will continue illegally dumping rubbish as long as there is money to be made from such activities and little risk of being caught.

Securing enough evidence to convict fly-tippers can be an expensive and time-consuming business, a fact that has previously discouraged councils from making the necessary investment. The result is less than one per cent of cases resulting in court action while piles of unsightly rubbish lie in lay-bys and back streets.

Money spent now taking more cases to court, coupled with tough penalties for those found guilty, would eventually produce a deterrent effect. The resulting fall in fly-tipping would release cash to be spent on services or to relieve the inflationary pressure on council tax bills. The experience of authorities, such as Sheffield Council, shows this approach works and more should follow their example.

These alarming figures should also act as a brake on moves to introduce new charges for the collection of domestic waste. The effectiveness of such charges as a way of improving recycling rates is already a matter of debate. On a purely practical level, it would clearly be unwise to impose them before councils could be sure that thoughtless residents will not simply avoid the charge by dumping their waste anywhere they can.

Fly-tipping sullies the countryside, scars neighbourhoods and costs the taxpayer millions of pounds to clear up. It is not a victimless crime and councils should stop treating it as one.