Two local authorities in East Lancashire have been listed among the highest areas for fixed penalty notices issued for fly-tipping last year.

Recent statistics published by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs listed the 20 local authorities which gave out the most fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping from 2022 to 2023.

In England, Blackburn with Darwen was ranked 17th for the highest fixed penalty notices to incident ratios.

The council issued 1,022 fixed penalty notices and 6,838 total enforcement actions from 4,167 total incidents.

In 20th spot on the list was Pendle, where 877 fixed penalty notices and 4,792 total enforcement actions were issued for 3,884 total incidents.

The total number of fixed penalty notices issued in England was 69,000 in 2022 to 2023. 

Earlier last month, new research suggested fewer than one in 100 'on the spot' fines from local authorities in the North West for fly-tipping were actually paid.

Across England as a whole, reports of fly-tipping have decreased, with local authorities dealing 1.08 million incidents in 2022/23, down one per cent from the year before.

In 2022/23, 60 per cent of fly-tips involved household waste, down three per cent from the year before.

The most common place for fly-tipping to occur was on highways (pavements and roads), which accounted for two-fifths of total incidents, but this was also down, by seven per cent, from the year before.

Tony Watson, Head of Environment at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s enforcement team work tirelessly in combatting waste associated crimes working very closely with stakeholders and residents.

"The latest statistics released by DEFRA for 2022/2023 show that Blackburn with Darwen is highest placed local authority within the North West and 17th overall regarding the issuing of fixed penalty notices/incident ratio.

"In the last financial year, a total of 122 successful fixed penalty notices were paid into the service. Also recently, our environmental crime team received the result of 22 successful prosecutions, amounting to almost £15,000. These offences date back as far as 2022, due to a delay in court processing. There are also many more prosecutions that the team are waiting to be processed by the courts.

"Although this is fantastic news and deserving of the hard work that the Environmental crime team put in there is still much work to be done and the enforcement team will continue where possible with help from local residents and partners to take action against any person(s) who dispose of waste illegally. Residents can report fly tipping or waste issues to envirocrime@blackburn.gov.uk."