FARMERS are being left with huge costs to pay as they struggle to deal with increasing fly tipping on their land.

Last year Wiltshire Council responded to a massive 3,019 calls outs, 372 more than the previous year and at a cost to tax payers of £309,076.

However, despite clearing public ways, farmers have to burden the cost of clearing their own land of sofas, bbq’s, litter and in some cases poisonous and highly dangerous items to wildlife.

Melissa Candy has farmed at Stowell Farm in Corsham for 16 years and her husband is the third generation of his family farming the land.

She has noticed a rise in fly tipping in recent years and deals with waste left in gateways and fields on her land all year round.

She said: “It seems to me that the main people who are doing it are middle aged people moving house who want new things and are just dumping their rubbish when they move. They should know better.

“We’ve all got to work together, but I don’t know how to stop people because we’ve all got rubbish bins, if you move house there’s a cost involved to all of it but why should we as farmers be taking the brunt of the cost of everyone else.

“Because we are on one of the first small lanes when you leave Corsham, I think people think that it is quiet enough to dump their stuff.”

She added that although the Council have cleared some main roads, narrow lanes remain dirty with rubbish.

“I don’t understand why the council didn’t come right up the lane. There is currently a square plastic bag that can fill a tonne of rubbish in it there.

“There are also a lot of metal items left like coat hangers. If our machinery goes over them they will be cut up and could end up in animal feed, which could have serious consequences if metal was to end up in the gut of livestock.”

Denise Plummer, of Manor Farm, Stanton St Quintin said: “It is an on- going problem and very difficult to deal with, as catching offenders is very difficult.

“I do worry post Brexit about money being diverted from farmers to public goods! We already keep our land tidy! What about others doing their share to make the countryside a fit place for all.”

Cllr Don Heath said: “Where you’ve got businesses who are a bit on the rogue side, a lot of them will not want to pay to take it down to the dump so are tempted to get rid of it illegally.

"If I got a builder in and there was rubble to take away, if he took the rubble to the dump they would charge him, but if I were to take it myself I could do it for free. In the end it costs the taxpayer more because then the council have to go and clear it up.

"If they could throw it away for free in the first place then it wouldn’t be such a problem.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “We have a zero tolerance policy to flytipping in Wiltshire. We share farmers’ concerns and ask that they remain vigilant and where possible ensure their land is secure to deter flytippers. We continue to take enforcement action against those who are responsible for flytipping and will not tolerate people blighting the countryside because they are not prepared to pay the costs of disposing of their waste.

“We urge anyone who witnesses someone flytipping to log it through My Wiltshire, details of which are available on our website at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/mywiltshire-download, or call 0300 456 0100.”