Hartlepool council chiefs say tackling fly tipping remains a priority after new figures placed the town among the highest in the region for the dumping of dangerous waste.

Data revealed nearly 4,000 incidents of fly tipping in the town in 2024/25 with some involving hazardous material such as asbestos and chemical drums.

Hartlepool Borough Council bosses are calling on residents to help them by reporting incidents and recycling, and for businesses to use only licensed ways to dispose waste.

Figures from Middlesbrough waste management experts at BusinessWaste.co.uk revealed 65,182 incidents of illegal waste dumping in 2024/25 in the North East – around one every eight minutes.

Fly tipped rubbish including sofas on land at the corner of York Road and Young Street.

placeholder image — Fly tipped rubbish including sofas on land at the corner of York Road and Young Street.

Hartlepool saw 3,882 total incidents including 39 of hazardous material with one of clinical waste dumping, four asbestos and 14 involving chemical drums, oil, or fuel.

It meant Hartlepool was ranked third highest for hazardous incidents per 10,000 people (1.94) in the North East behind Darlington and Gateshead.

Mark Hall, waste management expert at BusinessWaste.co.uk, said: “All illegal waste dumping is damaging to the environment and local community, but hazardous waste is particularly concerning as it contains toxic, persistent, or reactive materials.

"When dumped illegally, they can contaminate soil and water, release harmful particles into the air, and create safety risks for both the public and council workers.”

Litter and rubbish dumped in Young Street, Hartlepool,

Hartlepool Borough Council says fly tipping is “totally unacceptable” and it does everything it can to tackle it, including enforcement action and publicly naming and shaming people they prosecute.

A council spokesperson said: “Fly tipping of hazardous material in Hartlepool accounts for under 1% of the total recorded fly tipping incidents in the borough and is in line with the levels across England, but it is, obviously, a concern for us – as we have said, all fly tipping is utterly unacceptable and we are determined to do everything we can to stamp it out.

“We need all Hartlepool residents to support us in this, with businesses ensuring that they use licensed waste disposal methods and householders making the most of our kerbside refuse and recycling services, including the weekly food waste collections currently being rolled out across the borough, and the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Burn Road.

“Together, we can beat fly tipping in Hartlepool.”

Information about fly tipping can be reported to the council in confidence at www.hartlepool.gov.uk.