RESIDENTS have slammed plans to close 12 rubbish tips saying it will turn their area into a dumping ground.
Locals in Hampshire could lose a dozen rubbish centres in their area as their council scrounges to save money.
The county council have put forward plans to shut five household waste recycling centres to plug a £132m budget shortfall.
It says another seven centres need investment if they are going to survive.
Fuming residents are up in arms about the proposed closures - saying their area will become a fly-tipping hotspot.
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One person wrote on Facebook: “So Hampshire County Council are thinking about shutting rubbish tips including Marchwood Tip to save money?
“What a short sighted and clueless idea, all this will do will encourage people to fly tip which will then cost the council more money to clean up.”
Another fumed: “It’s a nonsense. They will pay far more clearing up fly tipping, which will increase substantially when people can’t dispose of their rubbish and recycling items.”
Councillor Caroline Rackham said she is also concerned this would lead to an increase in fly-tipping.
She told the BBC: "Ponies come to the fly-tipped rubbish and look for food, so they can injure themselves or suffocate if there is plastic in there, there's noxious substances which people can fly tip which can get into the rivers or affect birds.
"It's such a worry in this biodiverse area."
A fly-tipper can be fined of up to £50,000 - or even more if the case goes to the Crown Court, an offender can even be sent to prison.
Councils can take action against people suspected or caught fly-tipping, including seizing any vehicle suspected in dumping waste in a way that cause pollution to the environment, and prosecution, which can result in a criminal record if found guilty by the courts.
You could be fined by the local authority up to £400 and you could be made to pay clear-up costs
The council say they are considering alternatives - including changing the types of waste accepted at centres and reducing opening hours.
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Council leader Rob Humby said: "We currently have 24 HWRCs and we think that's more than any other shire county.
"We have very clear criteria from the government about the tonnage they can take and how far people can be expected to drive.
"That's helped up determine which ones aren't viable when we are having to make cuts to services because of our financial pressures.
"We truly believe most of the residents of Hampshire are law abiding and will not fly-tip."
FLY-TIPPING LAWS
Fly-tipping is a serious criminal offence for which you can be prosecuted.
The courts have various powers available to them to tackle fly-tipping, including imprisonment, unlimited fines and an order to deprive rights to a vehicle used to commit the offence.
Fly-tipping is defined as the "illegal deposit of any waste on to land that does not have a licence to accept it".
Tipping a mattress, electrical items or a bin bag full of rubbish in the street causes a local nuisance and makes an area look ugly and run down.
At the larger end of the scale, fly-tipping can involve several truckloads of construction and demolition waste being tipped on different types of land.
Uncontrolled illegal waste disposal can be hazardous to the public, especially if it contains toxic material or asbestos.
There could be a risk of damage to watercourses and soil quality from the dumped waste.
Yearly, more than one million incidences of fly-tipping were dealt with by councils in England.
The annual 34 million tons of junk left littering the streets and countryside would fill 30 Wembley Stadiums to the rafters.
In 2021 it's said to be costing the economy £1billion a year — 55 per cent more than in 2015.
Organised crime gangs and repeat offenders are behind the devastating mess, an Environment Agency report shows.
