Skip to content

'I've reported hundreds of fly-tipping cases'

Gavin Cox A selfie of Gavin Cox smiling at the camera, which is pointing from above. He stands in front of a river weir in a waterproof jacket with a backpack on with tools in the back.Gavin Cox
Gavin Cox started litter picking in lockdown and never stopped

A man who says he has reported 230 fly-tipping cases in his area since 2020 has told the BBC it is getting "worse and worse".

Gavin Cox lives in Swindon and started litter picking with his children during lockdown but found himself continuing long after.

Swindon Borough Council said it saw a 30% increase in fly-tipping reports between 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Councillor Chris Watts called fly-tipping "despicable", explaining the council had even found rubbish dumped along the ancient Ridgeway path.

Gavin Cox Fly-tipped waste by the side of a path in a par. Full black bin bags, tyres, a pallet and buckets and a stray shopping trolley have all been left abandoned.Gavin Cox
Gavin Cox said most fly-tipping he finds is household waste in black bin bags

Mr Cox said most of what he reports is made up of black bin bags filled with household waste. However, he said he has also come across beds, sofas, white goods, prams, trolleys, a front door and even asbestos.

"It's not until you do litter picking that you see the amount of rubbish there is everywhere," he said.

"It's just non-stop all the time. It's never got better. It's just getting worse and worse."

Councillor Chris Watts - in glasses, with a beard and wearing orange high-vis - looks into the camera in front of a recycling lorry.
Councillor Chris Watts called fly-tipping "despicable"

The council received reports of 1,930 fly-tipping incidents in 2022-23 but that rose to 2,506 the following year. The figure gets larger when parish council reports are added.

Mr Watts said: "It is pretty despicable that people use remote rural locations to dump their rubbish and, although Swindon is a largely urban borough, we have seen incidents of fly tipping on The Ridgeway among other locations over the last couple of years."

Gavin Cox A litter bin along a path in park - next to it is an abandoned black bin bag, an old printer box and microwave.Gavin Cox
White goods are among some of Gavin's finds

Mr Watts is urging people to report dumped rubbish to the council, saying it will take action if its on public land.

However, fly-tipping is also a problem on private land, with the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) saying the figures would be much higher were those incidents counted.

Mr Cox, who often clears fly-tipped rubbish up himself, said it is about to be the "peak season" for fly-tipping as people are "clearing out their sheds and garages".

"It does make you feel good because you're achieving something - but you go out and see all the rubbish again and you think 'why am I doing this?'," he added.

Gavin Cox A broken up pine bed and mattress with bin bags and old paint pots scattered on a patch of grass in the countryside.Gavin Cox
Mr Cox said furniture is often dumped, including sofas and beds

Mr Cox is part of a social media group of litter pickers and says it is a similar story all over the country.

He explained it can be hard for councils to catch the culprits, as in many cases there is nothing to link them to the rubbish.

Wiltshire Council has put up CCTV in fly-tipping hotspots and Mr Cox now wants the same to happen in Swindon.

Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.

More stories like this