FLYTIPPING in the New Forest has led to talks over whether to scrap controversial tip fees.

The discussions come after a mountain of rubble was dumped at a beauty spot in the latest in a long line of flytipping cases.

This incident happened in the middle of a New Forest car park when mound of builder’s waste – including plaster board and huge bags – was discovered over the Easter weekend near Exbury Gardens.

Other recent incidents include hundreds of used tyres left in the middle of a road in Ringwood, asbestos and pipes and a washing machine dumped at Furzey Common and fence panels, car parts and rubbish discarded in Ashurst

“There has been a fly-tipping problem for some time now in the New Forest,” Cllr Alexis McEvoy said.

“The big problem is that some people have to pay to dump their rubbish, and some of those irresponsible people decide they will get rid of it somewhere else instead.

“Hopefully the removal of charges will encourage people to get rid of their rubbish responsibly.”

But Hampshire County Council leader Roy Perry, who is planning to meet government ministers to discuss the plans, said he will be explaining that the council’s current strategy against fly-tipping is working, after a reduction of more than 30 per cent in cases over the last six months.

A statement from the county council said: “We believe that the most important factors in reducing fly tipping are keeping local facilities open, which we have been able to do by introducing these charges, as well as opening up our sites for small businesses to use for a modest fee, and enforcement against fly tippers.

According to data from the Environment Department (Defra), clearing 936,090 reported cases of fly-tipping in England through 2015/2016 cost councils £49.8 million.

Last month the county council revealed plans to employ a £50,000 a year post to crack down on fly-tipping across the region.