Despite the re-opening of local council-run recycling centres, the fly tipping scourge is continuing around Scotland, with farmers and landowners reporting increased instances of rubbish being discarded.
The situation has prompted NFU Scotland and Scottish Land and Estates to write to the Scottish Government demanding increased penalties for offenders and better protection and support for land-holders who are victims of fly-tipping.
In one of the worst recent incidents, two tonnes of rotting meat were dumped in a Lanarkshire burn, with the farmer left to pay the clear up cost of £2,000.
Davy Shanks, Glenmavis, Airdrie, was disgusted to discovery of two tonnes of waste from a meat processing site dumped on his land. The waste was dumped from a public road, over the side of a bridge, to land in a burn and on the banking, creating both a health risk and an environmental incident.
He said: “It is ridiculous that an incident of this kind, which I could do nothing to prevent, sees me being held responsible for someone else’s waste simply because it has been dumped on my land.
“Since lockdown, fly-tipping has increased ten-fold."