Barford woman traced source of fly-tipping waste through documents left in the pile

The pile of waste which was fly-tippped on Lou Hiorn's farmland in Barford

The entrance to Lou Hiorns field was blocked by a pile of building waste which a private householder had paid a man with a tipper lorry to dispose of.

But the rubbish included paperwork with the householder’s private information including bank details and it was easy for Mrs Hiorns to find out where the rubbish had come from.

She said: “I have been in touch with the householder and he has been out to see the mess for his self and has assured me that he will get it removed.

“I think what the general public are perhaps not aware of is that they are responsible for this waste when it is illegally dumped and if we decided to take further action it would in fact be them who would be liable.

“The environmental Health department who are the people you have to speak to when someone fly- tip on your land, are not at all helpful as all they could say to me was they would collect this rubbish for a fee, but when ‘Mr Fly-tipper of Leamington’ asked for them to remove it they were far too busy.

“People should get some sort of paper work when paying to have rubbish removed, so as to prove that they are not responsible, not pay some chap cash in hand and hope for the best.”

Mrs Hiorns is also encouraging people to dispose of any unwanted personal documents carefully.

She said: “A shredder is very cheap.

“This householder’s stupid mistake made my job a lot easier in tracking him down.

“The Warwickshire countryside is such a beautiful thing, it is free to enjoy with lots of public footpaths and open space.

“Farmland takes a life time of work, in all weathers to get it looking its best.

“Please don’t take it for granted, help us look after it.

“Respect the livestock, take care and enjoy this green and pleasant land.

“But please help us stop these criminals by taking a photo on your phone if you see anything or by just taking the vehicles number and reporting it to the police or go to the nearest farm.

“It is the only way we will be able to stop this happening is to work together.

“The householder has now been charged in excess of £400 to clear the rubbish, which is an expensive lesson.”

Research carried out by Furniture Choice shows that one in six residents living in central England have admitted to fly tipping with about a quarter of those not realising that by doing so they have broken the law.

“The maximum fine for fly-tipping now stands at £95,000 but the survey found that 82 per cent of adults in central England are unaware of any change.

However the possibility of being fined would put off 85 per cent of those polled who admitted to fly-tipping.

For recycling information visit www.furniturechoice.co.uk/recycling-tool/