NEW figures obtained by The Herald under the Freedom of Information Act reveal reports of fly-tipping in Farnham have increased by almost 50 per cent over the past two years.

Between December 2014 and November 2015, Waverley Borough Council was notified of 112 cases of illegally dumped waste in the GU9 (Farnham town centre) postcode. But over the following 12 months, this number rose to 165 - a 47 per cent increase.

This compares to a 35 per cent increase (from 379 cases to 513) borough-wide during the same period, and a 28 per cent rise (46 to 59 cases) in the rural GU10 postcode area east, south and west of Farnham.

The figures also reveal a 40 per cent rise in fly-tipping across Waverley between last September - when Surrey County Council introduced charges at many of its Community Recycling Centres (CRCs) including Guildford Road in Farnham - and November, compared to the same three-month period 12 months earlier.

However, despite this revelation, the county council this week stood by its previous assertion that fly-tipping has actually decreased since the introduction of the controversial charges for ‘non-household’ waste.

A Surrey spokesman said: “The volume of fly-tipping we have dealt with in Waverley has decreased by more than 600 tonnes in 2016 compared to 2015 (from 913 to 306 tonnes) while we have also seen a huge reduction across Surrey.

“We do, however, recognise that there are local issues that need addressing which is why we are stepping up co-ordinated action against the problem with the county’s district and borough councils through our fly-tipping strategy.”

A Waverley spokesman added: “We can’t confirm a definite causal relationship between the Surrey County Council increase in tip charges and the amount of fly-tipping that’s occurring in Waverley.

“However, we recognise that there are more reports of fly-tips in the borough…and a new joint enforcement team will be out and about patrolling in the community from spring 2017, to investigate offences such as fly tipping and to try and catch the culprits.

“They will have powers to issue enforcement penalties and prosecute in the worst cases. The council has already installed CCTV cameras at problem hotspots in a bid to catch fly-tippers in the act.”