Warwickshire villagers say fly-tipping is getting worse

A woman campaigning against increased fly-tipping has said she once had a whole roof dumped on her driveway.

Vivienne Mills runs Astley Book Farm near Nuneaton and said the issue is worse as she is on the border between two boroughs: Nuneaton & Bedworth and North Warwickshire.

New government data shows Nuneaton and Bedworth is fifth in the country when it comes to issuing on the spot fines to offenders.

"You name it we have it," she said.

"Because we are a rural property, every night we have to lock our gates otherwise we will wake up to mattresses.

"One morning we had a whole roof... a tipper lorry would have done that," Ms Mills said.

"We lock our gates which just sends them to the next gateway.

North Warwickshire Borough Council said it investigated all cases where there is evidence it could lead to formal action and currently has 14 prosecutions ongoing.

"One of the biggest issues in a lot of our cases involve organised crime, we've had a number of cases where number plates have been recorded but proved to be false," the authority said.

"Warwickshire Police and Rural Crime Team to gather evidence and have invested significantly in AI/next generation cameras which will enhance the formal action we can take," it added.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has been contacted for comment.

The data, from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), also shows Warwick District Council dealt with 2,500 incidents in 2022-23, while Coventry clocked up more than 6,800.

Across the country, local authorities dealt with more than 1m incidents last year.

One resident said Astley Lane is getting worse for fly-tipping with a lot of building materials being dumped there.

"It doesn't look very nice, it's not very appealing and I also worry about the wildlife," she said.

Engine oil cans, tyres and plastic children's slides can also be seen, some ending up in the road.

"There has been a sofa down the road to Bedworth that's been there since October.

"This is dangerous - someone is going to hit it," Ms Mills said.

When she contacted Nuneaton and Bedworth Council, she said she was told it didn't come under their authority.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]