I am today depositing copies of the annual report on the number of incidents of fly-tipping recorded by local authorities on the Government's Fly-capture database in 2007-08. This report gives detailed information on the number and type of incidents, the type of land where the incident occurred and the estimated cost to authorities of dealing with it.

I am pleased to announce that there was a reduction of 7.5 per cent. in the number of recorded fly-tipping incidents from 2006-07. I am also pleased to highlight the good work carried out by local authorities in increasing the number of enforcement actions against fly-tipping by 26 per cent. from the previous year.

DEFRA will continue to work with the Environment Agency and local authorities to prevent illegal waste activity through a combination of prevention, education and enforcement.

This report is also available from the DEFRA website at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/localenv/ flytipping/flycapture.htm