FARMERS, landowners and the public are being urged to put together an overwhelming case for stronger local and national government action to combat the growing menace of fly-tipping in the countryside.

Regional Country Land and Business Association spokesman Paul Millard said: "People are fed up seeing rubbish dumped in ditches, fields, country lanes and even beauty spots. The countryside is particularly vulnerable to fly-tippers, but there is very little information on where the hotspots for fly-tipping in rural areas are and what kind of rubbish gets most frequently dumped in the countryside."

In a bid to tip the scales, the CLA is launching a survey on fly-tipping in the countryside. The online survey at www.cla.org.uk/flytipping is open to the public and will run to the end of the month.

Mr Millard said solutions might include waiving some of the fees at local rubbish dumps or extending the power of local authorities to erect barriers in public rights of way where fly-tipping was a regular problem.

"What is staggering is that frequently people will drive to remote locations to dump a carload of rubbish rather than take it to the tip," Mr Millard said. "We hope our survey will establish some hard facts and figures which will lead to firm action."

Apple grower Paul Dunsby, of Cotswold Orchards, Childswickham, suffers badly from fly-tipping, particularly in Aston Somerville road.

"It is a dreadful problem and one we suffer from all year round," he said. "People just dump all sorts of rubbish in our gateways and on our land. I don't know what can be done to stop it."

The CLA's survey includes questions on the most common and unusual types of rubbish, where it was dumped, how local authorities responded to reports of fly-tipping and whether people have had to pay for the clean up of an area and how much it cost.