THE cost of clearing away fly-tipped rubbish left by travellers at a Wirral beauty spot was the country's highest.

The Woodland Trust spent £5,945 tidying up the mess left behind by the occpants of more than 20 vehicles who parked in Upton Meadow Wood on June 29.

The charity had to apply for a court order to get the travellers moved from the site and then pay to clean up the debris, which included bricks, concrete, soil, tarmac and human waste.

Upton Meadow is in the top five woods for fly-tipping, based on money spent on clean up. The other four are:

  • Smithills, Bolton - £4498
  • Livingston General - £2860
  • Theydon Bois, Epping Essex - £2725
  • Hainault, London - £191

Nationally, the annual bill for clearing up the mess has soared to almost £200,000, up by more than £70,000 over the past five years.

In 2017, the trust spent £56,523 clearing up fly-tipping alone, an increase of more than £13,000 on the previous year.

Since 2014, the total cost of clearance - including routine litter picking and fly-tipping - has risen to over £950,000.

There have been 926 individual tipping incidents recorded in the UK this year – 670 of these in English woods.

Another wood where lots of money has been spent is Smithills on the edge of Bolton where the fly-tipping clean-up has cost around £4500.

Darren Moorcroft, director of estate and woodland outreach, described the figures as "worrying".

He said: "In a world where we need our efforts and money to focus on the growing threats to our woods such as disease, pests and development, it is a shame we have to deal with the actions of mindless individuals.

"Each year we are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds clearing up other people’s waste, which could otherwise go towards creating new woods or protecting ancient woodland.

"The rubbish creates an eyesore and affects people’s overall visitor experience.

"Overall we need people to understand and remember that it has numerous implications for our woods and wildlife.

"We all need to care for our natural environment, or risk ruining it forever.

"Fly-tipping is an illegal activity.

"Whilst it is a costly affair for us to take offenders through a legal process, we do hold that right and have prosecuted in the past which can lead to substantial fines.

"We would also call on the public to be vigilant wherever they can if they spot anything suspicious contact us.

"Whilst if people see large scale illegal dumping they can call Crimestoppers on: 0800555111."