‘Countryside is in peril’: Dorset PCC warns MPs of rising waste crime
Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner has called for tougher penalties on repeat fly-tippers
Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner has told MPs that rural communities are being blighted by waste crime, with fly-tipping now ranking above agricultural theft as the biggest concern for countryside residents.
David Sidwick, giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry this week, said: “Rural crime is serious and it’s organised.
“It affects not just the people it is being done to but the whole of the surrounding environment. The countryside is in peril and we need to do something about it.”
It comes after the first regional survey into rural crime revealed that fly-tipping - often seen as the “bottom end” of waste crime - was the most common problem reported.
PCC Sidwick argued that tackling it required joint working between police, local councils and the Environment Agency.
But he warned that resources were a major obstacle. “The national funding formula hasn’t been reviewed for decades,” he said. “It costs more to police a rural area. When you look at the current system, the 10 worst-funded forces in the country are rural forces.”
Among his recommendations were tougher sanctions for repeat offenders - raising the current £50,000 maximum fine to a minimum - as well as a national register of waste crime offenders.
Official figures underline the scale of the problem locally.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) recorded 2,792 incidents of fly-tipping in 2024, making it one of the worst-affected areas in the south-west, according to data.
Almost all of those cases took place on highways, with household items such as sofas and carpets making up the bulk of dumped material.
In January, BCP Council announced a change to its fines regime, reducing penalties to £300 for items left outside homes, or £600 where serious obstruction is caused.
PCC Sidwick told MPs that waste crime was not a minor nuisance but part of a wider pattern of organised offending: “This isn’t just about rubbish bags and sofas.
“This is about protecting the environment, our rural economy, and the people who live and work in the countryside.”