‘My farm is a fly-tipping warzone’

Essex grower Harry Fisher says organised criminal gangs dumping waste on an industrial scale have turned his farm into a “warzone”.

Mr Fisher, who farms 240ha growing potatoes and cereals in Rainham, says gangs are regularly smashing farm gates and dumping lorry-loads of rubbish and recycled waste on his farm.

In one incident last week, brazen fly-tippers rammed a farm gate and drove on to a field of churning up a wheat crop, before dumping a tank full of plastic waste.

To prevent further fly-tipping incidents, he now puts concrete blocks in front of farm gates.

“It’s a real pain because we need to use a telehandler to move them out the way to enter a field,” says Mr Fisher. “Sadly, there’s no other way.”

Mr Fisher has had to give up the tenancy on one 38ha farm because it was being repeatedly targeted by fly-tippers.

“We told the landlord we couldn’t farm it any more. We spent more time cleaning up the field than farming it,” he says.

Mr Fisher estimates there are over 100 lorry-loads of rubbish to clear, costing about £80,000.