Are politicians to blame for fly-tipping?

IT’S obvious why there is a fly-tipping epidemic (Letters): it’s all the taxes the Government has placed on recycling and landfill. It’s far easier and cheaper to dump your rubbish at the side of the road or in a field and let the local council pick up the bill rather than pay it yourself. Once again, the high and mighty posturing of our political elite has led to unpleasant unintentional consequence. When will our LeftLiberal elite learn that people circumnavigate the petty regulations and taxes they foist on the rest of us to salve their consciences? JIm WEDGBURY, Kingsnorth, Kent. sHOULD builders be allowed to dump their rubbish free of charge at council dumps (Letters)? Those builders are running a business and the tax alone on a tonne of waste is more than £85, never mind the cost of taking it to a landfill site. why should council taxpayers subsidise them and not others? any reputable builder should know how much waste will arise when he/she quotes for a job. Most of the tipping is done by fly-bynights who undercut their reputable competitors by avoiding waste disposal charges. They should be jailed.

JOHN F. CRAWFORD, Lytham, Lancs. AS I was putting a box of glossy paper catalogues in the wastepaper bin at our recycling site (now closed down), I was approached by someone in a hi-viz jacket and told to stop because the catalogues were ‘trade waste’. I explained I worked from home and that these had been sent to me, so what was I to do with them? ‘Return them!’ I replied it would not do the environment any good to send these 200 miles to be put in a skip in Southampton. I continued my task. By the end of the conversation I was left holding an empty cardboard box. ‘What do I do with this?’ I asked. ‘Put it in the cardboard skip,’ the hi-viz replied. ‘But I can’t, it’s trade waste,’ I said. He walked off in a huff.

JACK BUTTERWORTH, Royton, Lancs.