Fly-tipping in Swindon council area: incidents, enforcement and fines
3,759 fly-tipping incidents were recorded in Swindon in 2024/25 (April 2024 to March 2025), according to the council's return to Defra: 15.4 for every 1,000 residents. That is lower than the rate across the councils in England that also count all incidents (21.1) and higher than the rate for those in the South West (9.8). The council took 658 enforcement actions, including 25 fixed penalty notices and no prosecutions.
Table of Contents
- Fly-tipping in Swindon at a glance, 2024/25
- Where fly-tipping happened in Swindon
- What was fly-tipped in Swindon
- How big the fly-tips were in Swindon
- Fly-tipping enforcement and fines in Swindon
- Fly-tipping in South West councils, 2024/25
- Related pages
- Questions about fly-tipping in Swindon
- About these figures
Among the 267 councils in England that count all incidents, Swindon had the 100th highest rate of fly-tipping per resident in 2024/25. Of the 24 ranked councils in the South West, it had the 3rd highest rate. The count was up 10% on 2023/24 (3,405), against a rise of 9% in Defra's England total.
| Measure | Swindon | South West (councils counting all incidents) | England (councils counting all incidents) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fly-tipping incidents | 3,759 | 51,229 | 1,077,530 |
| Incidents per 1,000 residents | 15.4 | 9.8 | 21.1 |
| Share on highways | 0% | 54% | 33% |
| Tipper lorry loads or larger | 2 | 841 | 38,558 |
| Enforcement actions per 100 incidents | 17.5 | 22.9 | 42.1 |
| Fixed penalty notices per 100 incidents | 0.7 | 2.2 | 3.5 |
| Prosecutions | 0 | 50 | 1,089 |
The region and England columns add up the 25 councils in the South West and the 269 in England that count all incidents. In England, 26 councils that count only some incidents or changed how they count during the year, and 1 with no figure, are left out. The enforcement figures also leave out 4 councils that returned no actions or only part of a year: Isles of Scilly, Cheltenham, Chorley and Liverpool.
Council land accounted for the most incidents in Swindon (2,744, 73%). 0% of incidents were on highways, against 33% across England. 220 were on private or residential land (5.9%; England 1.1%).
| Land type | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Council land | 2,744 | 73.0% | 18.4% |
| Footpath or bridleway | 744 | 19.8% | 20.7% |
| Private or residential land | 220 | 5.9% | 1.1% |
| Back alleyway | 41 | 1.1% | 9.0% |
| Highway | 7 | 0.2% | 33.4% |
| Commercial or industrial land | 2 | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Other or not identified | 1 | 0.0% | 16.2% |
| Agricultural land | 0 | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Railway | 0 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Watercourse or bank | 0 | 0.0% | 0.2% |
The most common kind of waste was other household waste, in 1,124 incidents (30%; England 44%). Hazardous waste: 1 incident involved chemical drums, oil and fuel. Tyres were dumped in 40 incidents. The waste type was not identified for 34% of incidents.
| Waste type | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other or not identified | 1,282 | 34.1% | 15.9% |
| Other household waste | 1,124 | 29.9% | 43.6% |
| Black bags (household) | 715 | 19.0% | 17.2% |
| Construction, demolition and excavation waste | 205 | 5.5% | 5.5% |
| White goods | 140 | 3.7% | 4.7% |
| Other commercial waste | 127 | 3.4% | 2.9% |
| Green waste | 124 | 3.3% | 2.9% |
| Tyres | 40 | 1.1% | 1.1% |
| Chemical drums, oil and fuel | 1 | 0.0% | 0.5% |
| Vehicle parts | 1 | 0.0% | 0.9% |
Size is recorded for the incidents the council investigated and cleared: 2,742 of the 3,759 (73%). 90% were a car boot load or less (England 53%). 10% were van loads (England 43%).
2 incidents were the size of a tipper lorry load or larger (0.1%; England 3.7%): 2 tipper lorry loads and no significant or multiple loads.
| Size | Incidents | Share | England share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single black bag | 37 | 1.3% | 9.2% |
| Single item | 256 | 9.3% | 16.3% |
| Car boot load or less | 2,180 | 79.5% | 27.3% |
| Small van load | 250 | 9.1% | 30.8% |
| Transit van load | 17 | 0.6% | 12.7% |
| Tipper lorry load | 2 | 0.1% | 2.4% |
| Significant or multiple loads | 0 | 0.0% | 1.3% |
The council took 658 enforcement actions against fly-tipping in 2024/25, 17.5 for every 100 incidents (England 42.1, the South West 22.9). The most common action was warning letters (464, 71% of all actions; England 13%). It issued 25 fixed penalty notices (3.8% of its actions; England 8.4%): 25 for fly-tipping itself.
The council told Defra that its fixed penalty for fly-tipping is £400, reduced to £300 for early payment. No prosecutions were recorded. Among the 254 councils ranked on enforcement, Swindon had the 81st lowest rate of actions per 100 incidents and the 122nd lowest share of fixed penalty notices.
| Action | Number | Per 100 incidents | England per 100 incidents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investigations | 121 | 3.2 | 28.8 |
| Warning letters | 464 | 12.3 | 5.5 |
| Statutory notices | 0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| Fixed penalty notices | 25 | 0.7 | 3.5 |
| Duty of care inspections | 48 | 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 |
No longer series is shown for Swindon: comparable figures start in 2023/24 because the council changed how it counts fly-tipping between 2022/23 and 2023/24, from counting only fly-tips reported by the public to counting all incidents.
Of the 24 councils in the South West ranked for 2024/25, Bristol had the highest rate (20.8 per 1,000) and East Devon the lowest (2.5). Exeter, Isles of Scilly and Wiltshire 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 10,266 | 20.8 | 21.9 | 1st of 24 |
| Plymouth | 5,370 | 19.7 | 25.2 | 2nd of 24 |
| Swindon | 3,759 | 15.4 | 17.5 | 3rd of 24 |
| Forest of Dean | 1,305 | 14.5 | 5.1 | 4th of 24 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 4,966 | 12.1 | 1.4 | 5th of 24 |
| Torbay | 1,556 | 11.1 | 3.7 | 6th of 24 |
| Gloucester | 1,531 | 11.0 | 54.9 | 7th of 24 |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 2,057 | 10.3 | 12.9 | 8th of 24 |
| Cotswold | 922 | 10.1 | 9.0 | 9th of 24 |
| North Somerset | 2,226 | 9.9 | 3.2 | 10th of 24 |
| Cheltenham | 1,205 | 9.9 | – | 11th of 24 |
| Stroud | 1,232 | 9.8 | 19.4 | 12th of 24 |
| Teignbridge | 1,051 | 7.6 | 40.6 | 13th of 24 |
| South Hams | 662 | 7.2 | 83.8 | 14th of 24 |
| South Gloucestershire | 2,189 | 7.1 | 27.0 | 15th of 24 |
| Tewkesbury | 695 | 6.8 | 12.9 | 16th of 24 |
| Cornwall | 3,931 | 6.7 | 37.0 | 17th of 24 |
| West Devon | 339 | 5.8 | 78.5 | 18th of 24 |
| Mid Devon | 488 | 5.7 | 13.7 | 19th of 24 |
| North Devon | 574 | 5.7 | 71.3 | 20th of 24 |
| Somerset | 2,830 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 21st of 24 |
| Torridge | 270 | 3.9 | 50.7 | 22nd of 24 |
| Dorset | 1,410 | 3.6 | 82.0 | 23rd of 24 |
| East Devon | 395 | 2.5 | 87.3 | 24th of 24 |
| Exeter | 1,115 | 8.1 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
| Isles of Scilly | 0 | 0.0 | – | Not ranked: too few incidents |
| Wiltshire | 3,005 | 5.7 | – | Not ranked: counts public reports only |
- Fly-tipping in England: every council compared
- Crime statistics for Swindon (police recorded crime, from data.police.uk)
How many fly-tipping incidents were there in Swindon in 2024/25?
3,759 incidents were recorded in 2024/25, 15.4 per 1,000 residents, against 21.1 across the councils in England that count all incidents. In 2023/24 the figure was 3,405.
What is the fine for fly-tipping in Swindon?
Swindon council told Defra that its fixed penalty for fly-tipping is £400 (£300 if paid early). In 2024/25 it issued 25 fixed penalty notices (25 for fly-tipping itself).
Where does fly-tipping happen in Swindon?
In 2024/25 fly-tipping was most often recorded on council land (2,744, 73%), footpaths and bridleways (744, 20%) and private or residential land (220, 6%).
What gets fly-tipped in Swindon?
Other household waste (1,124), black bags (household) (715) and construction, demolition and excavation waste (205) were the most common kinds of waste in 2024/25.
Is fly-tipping in Swindon going up?
The count rose from 3,405 in 2023/24 to 3,759 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 Swindon?
Report it to the council for Swindon, which clears fly-tipping on public land and investigates it. Large-scale or hazardous dumping can also be reported to the Environment Agency.
About these figures: source, Defra, fly-tipping statistics for England, local authority table (published 25 February 2026), gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. An incident is an illegal deposit of waste that a council dealt with or had reported to it, from a single black bag to multiple lorry loads; councils return the figures to Defra through WasteDataFlow each quarter.
Most fly-tipping on private land is cleared by the landowner and is not counted, and the largest and most organised dumping is dealt with by the Environment Agency, which is not included. Since 2019/20 Defra has recorded whether each council counts all incidents or only those reported by the public or found by its own staff. Councils that count only some incidents record fewer, so they, and councils that changed how they count during the year, are not ranked here. Sizes are recorded for the incidents a council investigated and cleared, so they can add up to fewer than all incidents.
Enforcement actions include investigations, warning letters, fixed penalty notices and prosecutions; court fine figures exclude fixed penalty payments. Rates are per resident, so council areas where many people work or visit but few live, such as central London, have high rates for that reason.
Rates use the population in Defra's table (ONS mid-year estimates). Defra's England total includes every council and its estimates for missing returns. On this page the England and region comparisons add up only the councils that count all incidents, and their enforcement figures leave out councils that returned no actions or only part of a year, as the ranks do; the chart's England line is Defra's total.