FLYTIPPING has cost Colchester taxpayers more than £620,000 in the last eight years, new figures have shown.

Statistics show Colchester Council has been forced to clear up 12,510 times when people have illegally dumped their waste since 2011.

Last year alone there were more than 2,000 cases of flytipping reported in the borough.

But the figure could be far higher because it does not include flytipping on private land - such as farmer’s fields - where the owner has to foot the clean up costs.

The total cost to the council of clearances in the time period is £622,669 - including more than £240,000 in the last two years.

Flytipping has recently been reported in Colchester beauty spots with electric, household and garden waste found near Friday Woods last summer and a mound of rubbish piled up in High Woods Country Park earlier this month.

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The council’s environment boss Martin Goss (Lib Dem) said the council would track down the people who commit the offence.

He said: “It does happen, but you have to remember that if somebody leaves a black sack where it shouldn’t be then that also counts as flytipping as well as where people dump a load of trade waste in a country lane.

“For example, if somebody leaves an electrical item like a hoover with their waste, the recycling team will rightly refuse to take it away and it will be reported as flytipping.

“We will search any flytipped waste and fine people who have left it.

“If they don’t pay then we will taken them to court where that fine is going to get bigger.

“The message to people who do it is that we will find you and you won’t get away with it.

“There is zero tolerance.

“The recent incident in High Woods County Park was particularly bad.

“If you think dumping rubbish in a country park for a council to clear up is an acceptable way to behave then you need help.”