Councils have been forced to wage war on waste as fly tippers dump rubbish in thousands of illegal sites, it's been revealed.

But, despite campaigns to stamp out fly tipping, the menace is on the increase... with 15% more sites in the last year than in 2010/11.

In fact, more than 16,000 cases of illegal waste sites were reported throughout Kent and Medway last year.

Topping the league was Medway, which saw 4,576 reported incidents in 2012/13 - up from 3,130 in 2010/11.

Dover recorded the biggest percentage increase in that time - with 903 reports, or a staggering 76% rise.

The figures, released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), show a worrying trend.

But David Brazier, cabinet member for transport and environment at Kent County Council, said the figures should be kept in perspective.

He said: “The efforts are beginning to show. We don’t catch every fly-tipper, I wish we did. We work hard on it and we’re constantly pressed by people on the issue.”

“In 2004/05 there were over 33,000 incidents of fly-tipping and we take 50, 60, 70 people to court every year.”

Medway saw an increase of 46.1% in fly-tipping incidents between 2010/11 and 2012/13, which it puts down to a county council decision to close its household waste site to traders in a bid to clamp down on illegal trade waste.

It also claims a Love Medway campaign, which encourages people to report fly tipping through a mobile phone app, has led to a rise in the figures.

Councillor Peter Hicks, portfolio holder for community safety and customer contact at Medway Council, said the council is doing everything it can to combat the issue.

He said: “We’re tackling fly tipping with a hit squad that clears away rubbish within 12 hours. We’ve tackled nearly 800 fly tips.

“Yes, there has been an increase in fly-tipping in Medway during the current year. Overall, the figure does show a decrease of 29% compared to our base line figures for 2005.

“We urge the public to report any incidents they come across or see as soon as possible. That way we can arrange to respond to those incidents quickly.

“Removal of fly-tipping does cost a considerable amount of money, but we think that’s worth while in order to deal with the incidents quickly.

“Wherever possible we do prosecute the offenders if we can track them down.“

Cllr Hicks warned anyone guilty of illegal waste dumping would be prosecuted.

Dartford had the best result on fly-tipping. The borough saw a decrease of 26.6% in cases since 2010/11 with 1,304 reported incidents.

Tunbridge Wells had the fewest reported cases, with only 280 known sites.

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