A NEW campaign to discover “the true extent” of fly-tipping on land in Lancashire has been launched.

The pilot study from the Environment Agency follows initial research which revealed that 94 per cent of private landowners suffer from illegal dumping of waste.

With clearance costs averaging £809 per removal, the figures underline a significant problem which the Environment Agency said it is determined to get to grips with.

Gerald Lee, project manager for the agency’s Landowner Partnership, said: “The purpose of our ‘Recognise, Record, Reduce’ campaign is to record fly-tipping incidents uniformly through a central online system for an extended period of time.

“We need this level of understanding to be able to provide tools and guidance for tackling a problem that we know anecdotally is a big issue for Britain’s landowners.”

Sarah Lee, of the Countryside Alliance, said: “A solution to this problem must be found, but more accurate data on the scale and nature of the problem is needed before the Government can take action.

“The seriousness of fly-tipping on private land is well known, and the Countryside Alliance recognises that farmers and landowners often feel isolated when dealing with this costly problem on their own."