We have all seen it at the roadside – piles of black bin bags, a broken pushchair, and maybe a soggy mattress.

Fly-tipping is a blight upon the environment, but the problem is getting worse as a growing number of people choose to dump their rubbish in unauthorised sites such as back streets, lay-bys or country lanes.

In the Bradford district, the number of recorded incidents has risen from 3,263 in 2007-8, to 3,600 in 2008-9, and 3,713 in the financial year up to April 2010. And in the first two months of this year, the total had already reached 1,810.

“That is in just two months,” says environmental health manager Neil Atkinson, who heads Bradford Council’s environmental enforcement team. “We see fly-tipping as one of the major problems in Bradford.”

The figure does not include fly-tips on non-highway Council land and land owned by Bradford’s social landlord Incommunities.

Of the totals, 48.6 per cent of fly-tips were a car-boot load or less, including black bags and single items such as fridges and mattresses.

“Around half of all items we find dumped could be collected free of charge,” says Neil. “One of the problems is perhaps a lack of understanding by householders of what services the Council provides.”

Items that can be collected free include pieces of furniture, cookers and mattresses.

Fly-tipping statistics are collated by the Council on a monthly basis and entered into the Flycapture database run by the Government’s Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra). The results form one of a number of performance indicators compared with other local authorities nationally.

The increasing number of fly-tipping incidents has been matched by a corresponding increase in the number of actions taken by the enforcement team. These have risen annually, from 1,621 in 2006-7 to 2,670 in the year up to April 2010 – a rise of 64.7 per cent.

“We are doing well on enforcement,” says Neil. There are, he adds, many reasons why people fly-tip. “The downturn in the economy has led to some businesses cancelling contracts to save money. To dispose of waste they might hire a skip, but some may hand it over to a cold-caller who offers a knock-down price. That waste could end up tipped – cheap does not always mean legal.”

The latter also applies to households, who have a legal duty of care to ensure their waste is given only to authorised carriers.

“Some businesses try to take waste to the household sites to avoid charges,” adds Neil.

Some domestic householders see dumping their rubbish as easier than taking it to a tip. “It is hard to fathom – some people will drive out to the countryside to dump rubbish and pass a couple of household waste sites on the way.”

Others believe they will not get caught, and if they do, the penalties are low. Sentences handed out to fly-tippers vary from £50 to £5,000.

When magistrates fine they take account of the defendant’s ability to pay, and as a result some offenders are given small fines, which sends out the wrong message to the public.

Successes last year included a fine plus costs of £5,545 for a businessman who used bonfire night as an opportunity to burn trade waste, a landlord who dumped renovation waste at an empty house and was fined £650 plus costs after being caught on CCTV, and a DIY enthusiast fined £915 after dumping rubbish on a bridleway next to a school. He was also caught on CCTV.

Covert cameras are used but the Council lacks the resources for manned surveillance. Members of the public who witness fly-tipping incidents should give as much information as they can, such as car registration plates. “We rely on the public to help,” says Neil.

Hotspots in the Bradford district include Wilson Road, Birkshall Lane, close to West Bowling household waste site, and spots near Sugden End tip.

Bradford Council works hard to educate people as to how they can dispose of their waste. “We distribute leaflets and our neighbourhood wardens speak to local residents.”

The authority also works with other agencies including West Yorkshire Police on special ‘stop-and-search’ crackdowns looking for unauthorised waste carriers.

For information on items that can be collected free, visit bradford.gov.uk and look at waste collection and disposal. To report fly-tipping, contact (01274) 434366. Details are also on the website.