Costs to remove fly-tipping from streets revealed by council
So far in 2026, 26 FPNs have been issued.
Rotherham Council has spent over £175,000 clearing fly-tipping from the streets and waste in public areas since 2024.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that Rotherham Council spent £175,547.87 in the years 2024/25 and 2025/26.
£96,575.35 was spent in 2025/26, compared to £78,972.52 in 2024/25.
Central Rotherham saw the most spent on clearing fly-tipping, totalling £76,035.45 over the two years.
This area includes neighbourhoods such as Eastwood, which is plagued by fly-tipping.
For the south and north of the borough, £70,144.96 and £28,789.28, respectively was spent.
Since 2019 a total of 762 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) have been issued to fly-tipping offenders across the borough.
So far in 2026, 26 FPNs have been issued.
A total of £27,750 has been paid to the council in FPN ‘fines’ since 2024.
For both financial years, the largest amount generated in fines was £9,400 for the ‘Rotherham East’ ward, which covers Eastwood.
£3,800 was received in fines for offences in the Kilnhurst and Swinton East ward in 2024/25.
In 2024, fly-tipping hotspots were identified, showing almost a third of all offences committed in the borough were in the Rotherham East ward, which accounted for 2,071 of all cases.
Areas such as Hellaby and Maltby West were also identified as hotspots.
Rotherham Council’s Interim Service Director for Community Safety and Street Scene, Sue Procter, said: “Fly-tipping is a serious environmental crime that affects local communities, damages the environment, and costs taxpayers thousands of pounds to clear up.
"The council has a duty to investigate reports of fly-tipping and remove illegally dumped waste from public land. Our teams work hard to respond to incidents, monitor hotspots, gather evidence, and pursue those responsible where offences have been committed.
“We are dedicated to keeping Rotherham clean and safe for residents, and where there is evidence of wrongdoing, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action through warning letters, Fixed Penalty Notices, and prosecutions. In the last year we have increased the number of staff able to issue fines and taken enforcement action, as well as previously expanding our capacity to collect and remove fly-tipping.
"In a couple of recent prosecutions, two residents were each ordered to pay £1,177 after waste linked to their addresses was found within a large fly-tip on Aldwarke Lane, while a waste collector who illegally disposed of rubbish collected from residents was ordered to pay £2,450 following a Council investigation.
"Together, these prosecutions resulted in financial penalties of more than £4,800 and demonstrate our commitment to taking robust action against environmental crime.
"Tackling fly-tipping is everyone's responsibility. Residents can play their part by disposing of waste responsibly, checking that anyone they pay to remove waste is a registered waste carrier, and keeping receipts or transfer documentation wherever possible. Taking these simple steps helps ensure waste is handled legally and reduces the risk of it ending up dumped in our communities.
"Anyone who witnesses fly-tipping or has information about environmental crime can report it to Rotherham Council through our website or customer services team."