OFFICIAL Government figures show that Ealing is in the top 10 for the highest number of recorded fly-tips in London.

Fly-tipping continues to pose a major challenge for some councils and local communities across London, including those in Ealing, with the borough being one of the capital's 'dirtiest' boroughs.

For the year 2019-20, Ealing saw 13,115 fly-tip incidents and ranked 10th among the 32 London boroughs for the most incidents.

That figure is lower than neighbouring boroughs such as Brent, Hounslow and Hammersmith & Fulham, but higher than others such as Harrow and Hillingdon.

London's worst affected borough was Camden with 34,465 reported fly-tips, while Kingston was the 'cleanest' with only 1,619 incidents.

Across London's 32 boroughs, just over 360,000 (360,080 to be exact) fly-tips were recorded.

This means that Ealing suffered 3.6% of the Capital's fly-tips and was above average for the number of incidents, which was 11,253.

Cathy Swift, Administrator of the Litter Action Group for Ealing Residents (LAGER Can), said: "Our volunteers find fly-tips every day, and see it as part of their volunteering to report them, using the Report a Fly-tip option on the Love Clean Streets app.

"Our keenest members check fly-tips for evidence and, if successful, use the Love Clean Streets app to Report a FlytipPER.

"Any resident can do the same.

"We work closely with Ealing Council's Enforcement team to try to provide the information they need.

"Of course, it would be better if fly-tipping didn't happen in the first place.

"Having recently litter picked and reported numerous fly-tips on the streets of Southall Green as part of our Great Big Southall Clean-up, I found myself wondering whether fly-tipping in this ward had increased since the local tip was closed in 2012.

"Many of our members are concerned about the impact of the imminent closure of Acton tip on fly-tipping.

"Another problem contributing to fly-tipping in some parts of the Borough is the large number of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and unlicensed residential properties, many of which have inadequate rubbish removal provision or, in the worst cases, no rubbish removal facilities at all."

Ealing Council has been approached for comment.