Brent is among the top five boroughs in England for number of fly-tips reported, according to the latest government statistics.

Data showed there were almost 24,000 incidents in the borough in 2018/19, which was the third highest in the country behind Leeds and Camden.

Harrow Council faced 13,658 reports in 2018/19 – the tenth highest in London and the 19th in England. It took enforcement action on 890 of these – just over 6.5 per cent of those reported.

The majority of Brent’s fly-tips – 22,890 – were reported on the borough’s highways, with 53 incidents on council-owned land and 27 in private or residential spaces.

According to the data, Brent Council took enforcement action, which includes warning letters and fixed penalty notices, in 6,632 cases

It also spent £1,200 on clearing up three ‘significant or multi-load’ fly-tips during this period.

Chris Whyte, the council’s operational director for environmental services, said it will continue in its efforts to reduce rubbish dumping on Brent’s streets.

He said: “Fly-tipping is an issue across London and the country as a whole and Brent is unfortunately no different.

“Population changes, our physical location and the cost of disposing of waste properly are some of the contributing factors.

“It’s an issue we take seriously, and we work with our contractor Veolia to make sure people are aware of how to correctly dispose of their waste, highlighting the prosecutions of those who do not.

“We also work alongside community organisations to encourage everyone to love where they live and actively encourage people to report fly-tipping through the Love Clean Streets app, as well as getting people to dispose of their waste in the right way, as it means that more waste can be recycled, which benefits everybody.”

He added that local authorities across the country record fly-tipping in different ways, which can affect government data.

In Brent, for example, a carrier bag of rubbish dumped on the street is classed as fly-tipping, whereas at other councils it could come under littering.

Croydon and Hounslow made up the top five for number of reports.