FLY-TIPPING and littering in Britain’s woodland areas has cost a charity £1.1 million to clean up in the past five years.

The Woodland Trust said the bill for clearing up the illegally dumped mess on land it owns and takes care of amounted to £200,000 last year.

Woodlands have seen hundreds of incidents of tipping and littering, including dumping of freezers, mattresses, carpeting, the remains of a garden wall and oil drums. Recently, the trust found a bath and even a shrine with a sheep’s head.

There were 1,290 separate incidents, 998 of which occurred in English woodlands, last year.

The worst region in England was the north, where the trust had to undertake 576 clean-ups of illegal waste, at a cost of more than £63,900. Livingston in Scotland had the biggest bill for clearing rubbish, with costs of £14,000 last year.

The trust’s director of estate and woodland outreach Darren Moorcroft suggested a squeeze on council spending on refuse sites and charges for picking up some kinds of household rubbish could be a factor in fly-tipping.

“Reaching over £1 million spent in the last five years on clearing up mess in our woods is clearly not a milestone to celebrate,” he said.

“This money could have helped us plant many trees or protect woods that are in desperate need of help. The rubbish also creates an eyesore which affects people’s overall visitor experience.

“Fly-tipping is an illegal activity. Whilst it is a costly affair for us to take offenders through a legal process, we do hold that right and have prosecuted in the past, which can lead to substantial fines.”