Only 30 fly-tippers are prosecuted out of 6,000

Thousands of complaints are being made about fly-tipping in the West Midlands region – but only a fraction of the culprits are being caught, new figures show.

More than 6,000 piles of rubbish have been found over the past year, with 30 prosecutions by councils.

The authorities say it is difficult to track down those responsible, especially as the rubbish is often left miles from their homes, but they have vowed to continue their crackdown.

They have warned that those caught could face court bills of thousands of pounds.

In Sandwell, in 2011, there were 2,726 reported incidents of fly-tipping, with five prosecutions, compared with 3,189 reports in 2010 and one formal caution.

Sandwell Council's cabinet member for neighbourhood services Councillor Derek Rowley said: "The only time we can trace the culprit is when they throw away household stuff which includes letters and bills with their address on."

Wolverhampton City Council dealt with 2,748 incidents in 2011, with 10 people being prosecuted. The number of reports in 2010 was 3,669 when there were 13 prosecutions.

Wolverhampton bins and waste chief Councillor Bob Jones said: "There are two departments which deal with fly-tipping – city services, who have to clear it up, and environmental health, who carry out enforcement action.

"Both of these cost a lot of money – it is a significant cost to clear away the rubbish that is dumped as it means getting a truck out there, and sometimes specialist equipment, to clear certain items."

In Dudley eight people have been prosecuted since April, and there were 548 incidents during that period.

In 2010-11 a total of 20 people were prosecuted out of 817 reports.

There have been 253 incidents in South Staffordshire since last April, resulting in seven prosecutions.