An MSP is calling for a crackdown on the menace of fly-tipping as new figures show most culprits are escaping justice.
Tory Murdo Fraser branded illegal dumping a “blight on Scotland’s landscape” as stats show just one in six reported cases end up being prosecuted.
Since 2016-17, just 59 of the 375 incidents of fly-tipping flagged with the Crown Office went to court - around 15 per cent of cases.
That’s despite previous data showing more than 60,000 instances of fly-tipping were logged in Scotland last year alone.
The Scottish Tories, who obtained the statistics via freedom of information laws, said the research was “extremely concerning”.
Fraser said: “It’s bad enough that such a tiny proportion of fly-tipping cases are reported to the Crown Office.
“But it’s extremely disappointing that just 15 per cent of these are then prosecuted.
“Fly-tipping is a blight on Scotland’s landscape – it causes terrible environmental damage across the country and impacts both rural and urban areas.
“We need to send a clear message to those responsible that it won’t be tolerated – but that’s not currently happening.”
The Tory bigwig is pushing a Member’s Bill at the Scottish Parliament which aims to strengthen illegal dumping laws, creating better reporting mechanisms and tougher sanctions for perpetrators.
He claimed the legislation was “not party-political” and had won support from across the Holyrood chamber.
The Conservatives also say it has been backed by groups like the National Farmers’ Union and Scottish Land and Estates.
Fraser added: “The destructive, criminal dumping of waste in unauthorised locations is utterly unacceptable, and the lack of prosecution exposes the alarming scale of this problem.
“It is therefore vital that we get it on the statute book as soon as possible.”
He said it was a “common-sense piece of legislation” that would bolster current laws and “toughen the punishments so that this scourge in our communities can be tackled effectively”.
In 2022, Scots councils recorded 60,405 instances of fly-tipping - an average rate of 165 cases per day.
Nearly a third of these cases - a staggering 19,313 - were recorded in one local authority area, Glasgow.
The Scottish Government ran a three-month consultation on litter and fly-tipping which ended last March.
It included proposals to strengthen enforcement measures, including raising fines for illegal dumping from £200 - the maximum permitted by current legislation - to £500.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Individual prosecution decisions for fly-tipping cases are a matter for the Procurator Fiscal. The Scottish Government is determined to tackle the serious environmental and economic impacts that fly-tipping causes."
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.