IT’S an expensive problem to have — and to solve.

Fly-tipping, along with dog fouling, tops the list of complaints residents report to their local councillor or raise at public meetings.

And it’s no wonder why.

Who would want an unsightly mess of rotting rubbish or an eyesore pile of household waste fresh from a house clearance slapped outside their home or in the park where their children play?

People fly-tip for a number of reasons but primarily to avoid waste charges or simply because they are too lazy to do the right thing.

Their actions can not only cause serious pollution of the environment and endanger wildlife, but also undermine legitimate waste management companies who are undercut by illegal operators.

Fly-tippers can fined up to £50,000 in magistrates’ courts but it’s rare this is ever actually imposed.

The problem is costing the country, and taxpayers, an estimated £100m every year to clean up and it’s about time the perpetrators were punished more severely. Patience should be running out and councils should be imposing more penalties.

Defra wants fines for smaller scale offences but this will only be effective if offenders are punished.