According to council chiefs, illegal dumping of waste in Epping Forest has soared by more than 50 percent since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. The latest clampdown targeted the use of fraudulent firms illegally disposing waste in the woodland that straddles London and Essex.
Epping Forest is home to more than one million trees, some of which are up to 1,000 years old – as well as around 500 rare and endangered plant, fungi and insect species living in the woods.
Now, 10 people have been convicted and fined for illegally dumping large amounts of rubbish in the Forest – including people who paid firms that irresponsibly disposed of their waste.
The fly-tips included multiple black sacks of waste, builders’ rubble, furniture and other household junk – with there even being soil waste from cannabis cultivation dumped there.
There were 414 fly-tips cleared from Epping Forest in 2019, 466 in 2020 and 379 already this year.
According to concerned council bosses, if the current rate continues it would lead to around 650 across the whole of 2021.
So far this year, around one in six…
