I WAS interested to read the letter in your last edition from Anthony Mealing in which he, quite rightly, bemoans the fact that he regularly sees rubbish dumped on roadway verges as he drives from Wycombe to Marlow.

Mr Mealing asks how much this costs the taxpayer and what damage this does to the countryside.

Well, Mr Mealing, I can tell you I absolutely share your despair in regard to the way some members of the public wantonly or foolishly despoil our countryside in this way.

However, there is good news because Buckinghamshire County Council has a zero tolerance policy towards fly-tipping.

Here are a few facts: n Since the start of our fly-tipping enforcement campaign ten years ago, we have achieved a clear £1million+ net cost-saving to our residents – through recouping the clean-up costs via 437 successful prosecutions.

n We have a strong message to every potential fly-tipper: In Bucks, we investigate every report we get. Every conviction is a criminal record and we publicise every successful conviction.

n We are leading the way with our conviction rate – now achieving a ten times higher conviction rate compared with the national average rate for all English local authorities.

n For the last five years, on average at least one offender has been convicted every week in Bucks.

n Our residents are vital in the fight against fly-tipping – 36% of our convictions have resulted from eye-witness reports.

The positive news is that our campaign is really working; the bad news is that some people still continue to fly-tip regardless of the warnings and the mess it causes. To illustrate the extent of the problem, the total tonnage of waste fly-tipped over the 10 years (now disposed of) is an astonishing 24,261 – that’s 2.5 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower!

It’s also worth noting that householders and businesses may face prosecution if they fail to carry out the necessary checks before a rogue contractor fly-tips their waste.

Finally, I would like to thank our residents who are such a great help to us in what seems to be a never-ending battle against the people who feel it is acceptable to dump their waste wherever they like. Without their help, our job would be so much harder.

I hope this letter will make illegal fly-tippers and any errant waste carriers aware that we will simply not tolerate this behaviour. — Lesley Clarke, OBE, Buckinghamshire County Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment