A warning has been issued by farmers in the south east after it was revealed that more than £4.5m was spent cleaning up fly tipping in 12 months.

Figures showing how much money has been pumped into cleaning up after fly-tippers in south east London and north Kent has been revealed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Farm insurance specialists Lycetts claim councils see a surge in people dumping rubbish in January, with rogue residents and traders tipping post festive waste - including old Christmas trees.

The DEFRA figures only account for flytipping incidents on council land, not private land, showing a total cost of south east clean ups coming in at £4,541,608.

Alan Sinclair, Lycetts spokesman, said: "Farmers are well aware of this issue and are saddened by the visual impact it has on the countryside they maintain, as well as it being a nuisance and inconvenience when trying to get on with their normal, daily jobs.

"With many authorities looking at introducing charges for bulky waste and organic waste collections and charging for dumping waste at council-run tips, there is a fear that flytipping incidents on farmland will increase.

"Be vigilant, communicate with neighbours and report suspicious vehicles to the authorities."

Here is how much each council spent on flytipping last year, and how many incidents were reported in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

Authority 2015/16 2016/17 2016/17 cost

Dartford 1,961 / 1,609 / 66,334

Gravesham 2,258 / 2,249 / 141,204

Sevenoaks 883 / 930 / 57,942

Bromley 3343 / 3,246 / 207753

Bexley 1110 / 1480 / 68,107

Lewisham 5514 / 1931 / 61490

Greenwich 10712 / 7960 / 634544