The dumping of waste from illegal cannabis farms in the countryside has been described as a plague and a growing problem by a councillor.

North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC) said there had been 90 cases of cannabis farm fly-tipping on rural roads bordering Luton since August 2024.

It said the locations of the fly-tips suggested the waste originated from the town.

Conservative group leader Ralph Muncer said: "We have criminal elements in Luton coming across the border into North Herts." Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire police said they had carried out joint patrols to target cross-border criminality.

Muncer said: "Police need to recognise that this may be a minor crime, but it is linked to drug-dealing in Luton where people are being stabbed.

"It destroys communities and it is imperative we try to counter those criminals who are carrying out this illegal activity."

He added that "the attitude of Bedfordshire Police is dismissive of this problem over the border in North Herts".

In January, the Conservative Group on NHDC proposed a motion to increase the fines for fly-tipping from £400 to £1,000.

The motion stated it cost councils across Hertfordshire more than £1m every year to clean up and investigate illegally dumped waste.

Muncer said it was "not just a cost to the taxpayer but an awful lot of the cost is being borne by hard-pressed farmers".

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, Hertfordshire's Conservative police and crime commissioner, said: "Criminal gangs can operate a cannabis farm in one town or city and then simply cross county boundaries to dump the evidence, and leave somebody else to deal with the consequences."

He said it was unacceptable that farmers and rural communities should be paying the price for organised crime.

Sgt Taz Gill, from Hitchin Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), said that "several operations and joint working exercises have been completed" with Bedfordshire Police, "which has strengthened both intelligence sharing and working practices".

"These include Operation Multigrain, which sees the Hitchin NPT and Luton Community Policing Team carrying out joint patrols to target cross-border criminality, which can include fly-tipping, drug supply and acquisitive crime.

"Fly-tipping remains a local priority, and I would encourage anyone who has information about fly-tipping to report it."

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