A furious row broke out over the weekend after the environment department Defra issued as press release claiming a big decrease in the rural plague of fly-tipping – because it failed to take into account thousands of incidents of rubbish being dumped on private land.

There was a reduction of 9.3% in fly-tipping reports – although the figure still stood at 1.16 million – but these statistic only count the number counted on land owned by local authorities, said Defra.

Many hundreds of thousands more occur on privately owned farmland, quarries and even large private gardens, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) retorted angrily.

The amount of rubbish dumped in the countryside has been rising sharply in recent years as local councils imposed sweeping price hikes at legitimate tips. Farmers are furious because they have to pay to clean up their own land although they are the victims of criminal action.

The CLA in the North West is gathering statistics to prove just how bad the situation has become.

Carole Hodgson, CLA North Assistant Regional Director said: “It may be the case that incidents on public land are decreasing but illegal fly-tipping on private land is on the increase and these incidents are often not recorded or even reported.

“Survey results released by the Environment Agency earlier this year show that 94 percent of private landowners have suffered from fly-tipping and the worst affected have experienced over 100 separate incidents in a year.

“Fly tipping is a real blight on the countryside and there are no signs of it lessening on private land. This Defra report is simply the latest in a succession of statements that are misleading and let policy makers off the hook.”

The CLA is asking people in the North West who suffer fly-tipping on their land to complete a simple incident form, copies of which are available from Carole Hodgson at the CLA Regional Office on 015395 67597 email info.north@cla.org.uk