Fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands council area: incidents, enforcement and fines
397 fly-tipping incidents were recorded in Staffordshire Moorlands in 2024/25 (April 2024 to March 2025), according to the council's return to Defra: 4.1 for every 1,000 residents. That is lower than the rate across the councils in England that also count all incidents (21.1) and lower than the rate for those in the West Midlands (15.5). The council took 446 enforcement actions, including 24 fixed penalty notices and no prosecutions.
Table of Contents
- Fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands at a glance, 2024/25
- Where fly-tipping happened in Staffordshire Moorlands
- What was fly-tipped in Staffordshire Moorlands
- How big the fly-tips were in Staffordshire Moorlands
- Fly-tipping enforcement and fines in Staffordshire Moorlands
- Fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands since 2019/20
- Fly-tipping in West Midlands councils, 2024/25
- Related pages
- Questions about fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands
- About these figures
Among the 267 councils in England that count all incidents, Staffordshire Moorlands had the 26th lowest rate of fly-tipping per resident in 2024/25. Of the 27 ranked councils in the West Midlands, it had the 5th lowest rate. The count was up 7% on 2023/24 (371), against a rise of 9% in Defra's England total.
| Measure | Staffordshire Moorlands | West Midlands (councils counting all incidents) | England (councils counting all incidents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fly-tipping incidents | 397 | 73,999 | 1,077,530 |
| Incidents per 1,000 residents | 4.1 | 15.5 | 21.1 |
| Share on highways | 64% | 45% | 33% |
| Tipper lorry loads or larger | 25 | 2,750 | 38,558 |
| Enforcement actions per 100 incidents | 112.3 | 40.2 | 42.1 |
| Fixed penalty notices per 100 incidents | 6.0 | 3.9 | 3.5 |
| Prosecutions | 0 | 13 | 1,089 |
The region and England columns add up the 27 councils in the West Midlands and the 269 councils in England that count all incidents.
Highways accounted for the most incidents in Staffordshire Moorlands: 256, or 64% (England 33%).
| Land type | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highway | 256 | 64.5% | 33.4% |
| Council land | 45 | 11.3% | 18.4% |
| Back alleyway | 39 | 9.8% | 9.0% |
| Footpath or bridleway | 23 | 5.8% | 20.7% |
| Other or not identified | 16 | 4.0% | 16.2% |
| Commercial or industrial land | 10 | 2.5% | 0.3% |
| Watercourse or bank | 8 | 2.0% | 0.2% |
| Agricultural land | 0 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Private or residential land | 0 | 0.0% | 1.1% |
| Railway | 0 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
The most common kind of waste was other household waste, in 141 incidents (36%; England 44%). Relative to England, Staffordshire Moorlands had a larger share of tyres (6.0% against 1.1%). Hazardous waste: 10 incidents involved asbestos, 1 incident involved clinical waste and 5 incidents involved chemical drums, oil and fuel. The waste type was not identified for 14% of incidents.
| Waste type | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other household waste | 141 | 35.5% | 43.6% |
| Other or not identified | 57 | 14.4% | 15.9% |
| Black bags (household) | 53 | 13.4% | 17.2% |
| Construction, demolition and excavation waste | 27 | 6.8% | 5.5% |
| White goods | 27 | 6.8% | 4.7% |
| Tyres | 24 | 6.0% | 1.1% |
| Green waste | 19 | 4.8% | 2.9% |
| Black bags (commercial) | 13 | 3.3% | 2.4% |
| Asbestos | 10 | 2.5% | 0.3% |
| Other commercial waste | 10 | 2.5% | 2.9% |
| Vehicle parts | 9 | 2.3% | 0.9% |
| Chemical drums, oil and fuel | 5 | 1.3% | 0.5% |
| Animal carcasses | 1 | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Clinical waste | 1 | 0.3% | 0.1% |
53% were a car boot load or less (England 53%). 41% were van loads (England 43%). 25 incidents were the size of a tipper lorry load or larger (6.3%; England 3.7%): 16 tipper lorry loads and 9 significant or multiple loads.
| Size | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single black bag | 0 | 0.0% | 9.2% |
| Single item | 88 | 22.2% | 16.3% |
| Car boot load or less | 122 | 30.7% | 27.3% |
| Small van load | 109 | 27.5% | 30.8% |
| Transit van load | 53 | 13.4% | 12.7% |
| Tipper lorry load | 16 | 4.0% | 2.4% |
| Significant or multiple loads | 9 | 2.3% | 1.3% |
The council took 446 enforcement actions against fly-tipping in 2024/25, 112.3 for every 100 incidents (England 42.1, the West Midlands 40.2). The most common action was investigations (397, 89% of all actions; England 68%). It issued 24 fixed penalty notices (5.4% of its actions; England 8.4%): 10 for fly-tipping itself, 1 to householders who passed waste to an unlicensed carrier (household duty of care), 7 for littering alongside fly-tipping and 6 of other kinds.
No prosecutions were recorded. Among the 254 councils ranked on enforcement, Staffordshire Moorlands had the 30th highest rate of actions per 100 incidents and the 103rd highest share of fixed penalty notices.
| Action | Number | Per 100 incidents | England per 100 incidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investigations | 397 | 100.0 | 28.8 |
| Warning letters | 20 | 5.0 | 5.5 |
| Statutory notices | 0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| Fixed penalty notices | 24 | 6.0 | 3.5 |
| Duty of care inspections | 5 | 1.3 | 2.5 |
| Stop and search | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Vehicles seized | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Formal cautions | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Prosecutions | 0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
The chart shows fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 residents in Staffordshire Moorlands in each year from 2019/20 to 2024/25, with Defra's England total. The rate was below the England total's in every one of those 6 years. It starts in 2019/20, the first year for which Defra records how each council counts incidents.
| Year | Incidents | Per 1,000 residents | England per 1,000 (Defra total) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 397 | 4.1 | 21.5 |
| 2023/24 | 371 | 3.9 | 19.9 |
| 2022/23 | 353 | 3.7 | 19.0 |
| 2021/22 | 391 | 4.1 | 19.3 |
| 2020/21 | 558 | 5.7 | 20.1 |
| 2019/20 | 359 | 3.6 | 17.4 |
Of the 27 councils in the West Midlands ranked for 2024/25, Rugby had the highest rate (36.7 per 1,000) and Stafford the lowest (3.2). Rugby's count went from 1,952 in 2023/24 to 4,488 in 2024/25 while England's changed by +9%, a step that may reflect a change in how the council records fly-tipping. Birmingham, Lichfield and Newcastle-under-Lyme are listed but not ranked: ranks cover only councils that count all incidents, with 100 or more in the year.
| Council | Incidents | Per 1,000 | Actions per 100 incidents | Rank in region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby | 4,488 | 36.7 | 16.2 | 1st of 27; count 1,952 in 2023/24 |
| Sandwell | 12,542 | 35.4 | 4.3 | 2nd of 27 |
| Telford and Wrekin | 5,811 | 29.7 | 45.9 | 3rd of 27 |
| Redditch | 2,255 | 25.7 | 45.0 | 4th of 27 |
| Walsall | 6,604 | 22.3 | 9.1 | 5th of 27 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 5,893 | 21.8 | 87.2 | 6th of 27 |
| Tamworth | 1,589 | 19.6 | 99.1 | 7th of 27 |
| Coventry | 7,188 | 19.5 | 122.6 | 8th of 27 |
| Solihull | 3,998 | 18.1 | 5.5 | 9th of 27 |
| Warwick | 2,724 | 17.6 | 18.8 | 10th of 27 |
| Bromsgrove | 1,591 | 15.6 | 20.0 | 11th of 27 |
| North Warwickshire | 1,020 | 15.2 | 5.5 | 12th of 27 |
| Nuneaton and Bedworth | 2,141 | 15.1 | 31.7 | 13th of 27 |
| Wolverhampton | 3,336 | 11.9 | 64.6 | 14th of 27 |
| East Staffordshire | 1,460 | 11.3 | 15.3 | 15th of 27 |
| South Staffordshire | 1,171 | 10.2 | 5.3 | 16th of 27 |
| Dudley | 3,303 | 10.0 | 16.3 | 17th of 27 |
| Wyre Forest | 831 | 8.0 | 21.4 | 18th of 27 |
| Wychavon | 948 | 6.9 | 0.9 | 19th of 27 |
| Shropshire | 1,734 | 5.2 | 64.6 | 20th of 27 |
| Worcester | 512 | 4.8 | 74.2 | 21st of 27 |
| Cannock Chase | 482 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 22nd of 27 |
| Staffordshire Moorlands | 397 | 4.1 | 112.3 | 23rd of 27 |
| Herefordshire | 708 | 3.7 | 137.9 | 24th of 27 |
| Malvern Hills | 298 | 3.6 | 39.6 | 25th of 27 |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 523 | 3.6 | 101.1 | 26th of 27 |
| Stafford | 452 | 3.2 | 31.6 | 27th of 27 |
| Birmingham | 24,664 | 20.8 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
| Lichfield | 552 | 4.9 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
| Newcastle-under-Lyme | 840 | 6.6 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
- Fly-tipping in England: every council compared
- Crime statistics for Staffordshire Moorlands (police recorded crime, from data.police.uk)
How many fly-tipping incidents were there in Staffordshire Moorlands in 2024/25?
397 incidents were recorded in 2024/25, 4.1 per 1,000 residents, against 21.1 across the councils in England that count all incidents. In 2023/24 the figure was 371.
What is the fine for fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands?
Staffordshire Moorlands council did not report its fixed penalty amount to Defra for 2024/25; councils set it between £150 and £1,000. In 2024/25 it issued 24 fixed penalty notices (10 for fly-tipping itself).
Where does fly-tipping happen in Staffordshire Moorlands?
In 2024/25 fly-tipping was most often recorded on highways (256, 64%), council land (45, 11%) and back alleyways (39, 10%).
What gets fly-tipped in Staffordshire Moorlands?
Other household waste (141), black bags (household) (53) and construction, demolition and excavation waste (27) were the most common kinds of waste in 2024/25.
Is fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands going up?
The count rose from 371 in 2023/24 to 397 in 2024/25. Recording practice varies between councils and over time, so part of a change can come from how incidents are counted.
How do I report fly-tipping in Staffordshire Moorlands?
Report it to the council for Staffordshire Moorlands, which clears fly-tipping on public land and investigates it. Large-scale or hazardous dumping can also be reported to the Environment Agency.
Source: Defra, fly-tipping statistics for England, local authority table (published 25 February 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. What is counted, and how councils differ: fly-tipping in England.