FLY-TIPPING in Hartley Wintney is on the increase after a resident complained of a “worrying” trend of dumping damaging the environment.

Samantha Chandler, 50, walks her dog along Grange Lane, Hartley Wintney, twice a day and regularly sees dumped kitchenware, bathroom appliances and household waste thrown into the pretty area of countryside.

With Hampshire County Council opening a consultation on how to save £98m from their waste management out lay, residents are now becoming concerned with how to stop the rise.

“It’s my usual route that I take my dog on in the morning and in the late afternoon because it’s a particularly pretty walk and the woods are really peaceful,” Samantha said.

“Unfortunately because there are no streetlights on this part of the road it is probably ideal for people wanting to dump their stuff.

“It must always be done at night because I only see it in the mornings and never see new stuff on my afternoon walk. It’s awful and dangerous – there are deer that use the area and they could hurt themselves on some of the stuff which is dumped.”

A spokeswoman for Hart District Council said: “Unfortunately, like the rest of the country, Hart has seen a rise in fly tipping incidents in the last year.

“You can report any incident by calling 01252 622122 or by going to our website hart. fixmystreet.com.”

Concerns about fly-tipping across the country are continuing to grow after a five per cent increase in the number of reported incidents from 852,000 in 2014 to more than 900,000 in 2015.