Thousands of fly-tipping incidents were reported in Bury in the space of three years, figures have found.

Despite their best efforts to clamp down on the problem, Greater Manchester councils have seen 93,629 fly-tipping incidents reported between 2020 and 2022.

According to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) data, five boroughs saw a reduction in 2021/2022 compared to the previous year but five saw an increase.

GM areas provided a large chunk of the total 128,426 incidents recorded across the north west in 2021/22 – down from 140,220 in the previous year.

As well as posing significant and environmental health risks, fly-tipping can be a legal and financial burden. 

Local authorities are usually left to clean up the mess left by fly-tippers, which means the taxpayer is picking up the bill for people too lazy to dispose of their rubbish properly.

DEFRA data estimates it costs on average £1,000, and £10,000 for large-scale incidents to clean up. Most councils use fines as enforcement action and have taken people to court over the matter.

Bury has been tough on fly-tippers where possible, with eight court convictions in the past 18 months being recorded. Despite this, they have seen a slight increase in incidents.

In 2021/22 they had 3,323 reports, which is slightly up from the previous year at 3,308.

A council spokesman said: “Fly-tipping and littering is disgraceful.

"It blights our neighbourhoods, and costs local taxpayers money to clear it up.

“We know how much this matters to residents, which is why we have increased our enforcement action against the perpetrators.

"In the last 18 months, we have issued 36 fines for littering and 50 fines for fly tipping, and eight offenders were prosecuted through the courts.

“If residents witness incidents of fly tipping, or have any information about who is doing this, we would urge them to contact us with all the details they have so that we can take action.”

Here is how each GM borough ranks in terms of total fly-tipping incidents between the start of 2020 and the end of 2022 and an individual breakdown of data:

Manchester – 28,890

Rochdale – 11,583

Salford – 11,190

Tameside – 9,165

Oldham – 7,475

Stockport – 7,153

Bury – 6,631

Trafford – 6,037

Wigan – 3,071

Bolton – 2,434