FOR farmer Guy Smith, fly-tipping is an issue close to his heart.

Barely a week or two passes without someone dumping waste on the 600 acres he farms around St Osyth.

Neighbouring farmer Matt Swain, of Little Clacton, also fell prey to fly-tippers last summer - the debris left by departing travellers.

The costs of suffering such enviro-crimes can be great, be it for the land-owner, or a council, should it be dumped on public land or a highway.

Earlier this month, an unnamed farmer in the Colchester area had to fork out £12,000 to remove waste dumped on his land by fly-tippers.

But people in towns can also fall victim, with litterbugs creating a rat-infested mess for residents in in Timber Hill, Colchester.

This month, farming organisations joined forces with the police and councils to create the Essex Rural Partnership to reduce fly-tipping and increase convictions of those responsible.

The National Farmers Union reported lorry-loads of waste were dumped in 20 locations across Essex in recent weeks, including farm tracks, entrances to sewage pumping stations and telephone exchanges.

A Christmas ‘blitz’ has been launched, with councils issuing fixed penalty notices and using their right to seize and destroy vehicles used by offenders.

But fly-tipping can be costly with the Country Landowners' Association saying a typical incident leaves an £800 bill.

Mr Smith, who is also vice chairman of the National Farmers' Union, has to deal with the fly-tipping issue, not just on his farm, but as a nationwide problem - one with consequences for all.

He told the Gazette: “The depressing thing is, is we have to lock up the countryside with gates to stop people getting access to the fields to dump waste.”

Tipping varies from people not disposing of rubbish properly, to tradesmen doing odd jobs like tarmacking, gardening and laying pavements, who dump waste in fields or country roads rather than using council facilities.

Then there is fly-tipping “on an industrial scale”.

Mr Smith says dumping truckloads of tens of tonnes of industrial waste amounts to “organised crime”.

The farmer wants councils to “make it easy” for people to dump waste legally. He also called on householders to use local, reputable businesses, with registered addresses and local landlines.

Mr Smith added: “If they are found doing it, they can be traced and dealt with. It may cost £30 more to use them, but it will save someone many hundreds of pounds and stop the countryside looking like an extreme tip.”

Matt Smith, of Bovill Halls Farm, agreed and said if people did not use travellers for various jobs, they wouldn’t visit the area and leave a mess.

His land was visited by travellers in October who left a load of rubble and an abandoned car.

It cost him £400 to remove two skips of rubbish, which was a lot for a small business like his.

Since then, he has had to install new padlocks and always ensures gates are closed and locked.

But he admits: “No farm is fly-tipping proof at all”.

Recently, he also spent a weekend, clearing ditches of abandoned rubbish, and was grateful Tendring Council agreed to take the waste.

In Colchester, Natasha Aylieff-Baxter suffered repeated waste dumping by her home on Timber Hill.

The giant bags began to attract rats, and the hot July weather made smells even worse.

Her grandmother Doreen Aylieff, visiting from London said at the time: “It has never been this bad before - something has got to be done to stop it.”

But fly-tipping is hard to stop due to the difficulty in tracking down offenders.

By mid-December, Colchester Council had received reports of 2,112 fly-tipping cases, which can be as small as a single black sack or as substantial as one in Langham on December 1 when two tonnes of waste was dumped, leading to a road was being closed while it was removed.

An address was found among the dumped material, which will be used as evidence in a future prosecution.

Tendring Council reported 1,380 offences this year, but no prosecutions due to lack of evidence and no-one being willing to give statements or attend court.

Colchester Council said courts have imposed fines totalling £2,275 for fly-tipping this financial year. No £400 fixed penalty notices have been issued yet, but action is underway on a case where a larger fine may be imposed.

The council warned that householders are responsible for checking if their clearance companies or waste carriers have the right licences to dispose of waste and that householders themselves may face prosecution is waste is not dumped properly.

Colchester will also be deploying two new mobile CCTV cameras this year, which will be used to monitor fly-tipping hotspots in the borough.

Council community safety boss Mike Lilley said they need the public’s help.

Tendring Council environment boss Mike Talbot also promised tough action.

“The fly-tipper is getting either the observer to pay for it through their council tax, or a private landowner to pay for it, which is most unfair if they are burdened with asbestos or something,” he said.

Essex County Council cabinet member for environment and waste Simon Walsh added: “We would like to remind residents and businesses that fly-tipping is an extremely serious illegal act with fines of up to £50,000.”