THE cost to farmers caused by flytippers has been highlighted by Defra just as another incident made its mark on Hexham.

Last week, a load of old, grey school chairs was dumped in three locations, including Causey Hill Lane.

There, the plastic left after the metal had been stripped out of them, accompanied by lengths of old wiring and other rubbish, spilled into a burn running through a field being grazed by sheep.

Northumberland County Council responded to the report logged on its website and the waste has been removed.

It will be but one incident among many though. More than 660 incidents of flytipping on farmland were recorded by Defra last year across the North-East alone, but one expert described this as “just the tip of the iceberg”.

Tony Laking, of Farmers and Mercantile Insurance Brokers, said Defra’s statistics excluded the majority of flytipping on private-land, which costed farmers an average of £1,000 a time to remedy.

Farmers and landowners are also liable for any environmental damaged caused by the rubbish dumped.

“Flytipping is a blight on our countryside,” said Mr Laking. “But dumped waste is not only visually impactful and a nuisance – it can be a source of pollution and cause harm to humans, animals and the environment.”

It was not only everyday household waste that was being dumped, but asbestos, clinical and chemical waste too.“So, farmers not only have to fork out for clean-up costs, but also to worry about the danger it poses to themselves, their workers, their animals and their land.”

He said flytippers – both thoughtless individuals and unscrupulous waste businesses – didn’t care that their irresponsible actions could lead to farmers being prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

He added: “Innocent farmers have the choice of footing the clean-up bill or facing significant fines for not dealing with someone else’s mess.”

A Northumberland County Council spokeswoman said investigations were under way to try to find the culprit responsible for flytipping the chairs.

“We have visited some schools in the local area and spoken to the caretakers and we will make further inquiries once the schools reconvene after the Easter Holidays.”

The chairs could also have come from a parish hall or sports pavilion and been given away in good faith. Anyone with information should call the council on 0345 600 6400.