In the last three years there have been 200,000 reports of flytipping to local authorities in Scotland with just 45 being referred to the Procurator Fiscal with farmers and landowners bearing the brunt of clean-up costs.

Following a freedom of information request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats they are calling on the government to introduce tougher action on flytipping incidents, including increasing fines, to protect Scotland’s environment and ensure farmers are compensated for clean-up costs.

The freedom of information request found:

• 207,960 flytipping incidents were reported between 2019/20 and 2021/22, but just 2,467 fixed penalty notices were issued.

• Highland council reported 185 incidents of flytipping in 2021/22, but just 4 fixed penalty notices were issued.

• Aberdeenshire reported 1,061 flytipping incidents in 2021/22, but just 4 fixed penalty notices were issued.

• Perth & Kinross reported 981 flytipping incidents in 2021/22, but no fixed penalty fines were issued.

• Dumfries and Galloway reported 524 flytipping incidents in 2021/22, but only 18 fixed penalty fines were issued.

Scottish Liberal Democrat agricultural spokesperson Claire McLaren said: “Littering might as well be legal under this SNP government. Farming communities are bearing the brunt of illegal waste being piled onto the surrounding landscape, which can be utterly catastrophic for animals, plants and soil.

“The pandemic and the bin strikes disrupted refuse collections but there is also a fundamental unfairness in the present system, which sees farmers and other landowners left with the responsibility for clearing up waste which has been dumped on their properties.

“We need to see local authorities using the powers at their disposal to clamp down on this disgusting behaviour and ensure that repeat offenders especially feel the full force of the law.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats also want to see increased support for farmers and those who bear the brunt of flytipping to assist them with the clear-up costs. This should use the proceeds of a new restitution order which hits offenders’ pockets hard. This could see courts able to require a contribution from offenders to a new national fund available to help victims.”

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Earlier this year, Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser unveiled plans for a Member's Bill to crackdown on flytipping and to "substantially" increase the existing fixed penalty imposed from its current threshold of £200.

He said that his plans would ensure the person on whose land or property waste is dumped is not responsible in law for its removal and that instead there should be strict liability on the generator of the waste for clearing it up and paying any fines for its disposal, as is already the case in England and Wales.