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Incredibly sad pictures show how the beautiful Welsh landscape is being blighted by people dumping their rubbish.

Last year there were more than 35,000 incidents of fly-tipping in Wales. Pictures supplied by Fly-tipping Action Wales show how it ruins our beautiful landscape.

(Image: Fly-tipping Action Wales)

(Image: Fly-tipping Action Wales)

(Image: Fly-tipping Action Wales)

This gallery shows just some of the rubbish found in the Welsh countryside:

The areas with the most fly-tipping incidents last year:

Cardiff 5,928

Newport - 3,588

Rhondda Cynon Taff - 3,349

Carmarthenshire - 2,939

Merthyr Tydfil - 2,273

The areas with the biggest increase in fly-tipping incidents last year:

Carmarthenshire up 69.69%

Powys up 41.76%

Bridgend up 25.02%

Denbighshire up 20.22%

Wrexham up 15.59%

What is been done about it?

Neath Port Talbot, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Caerphilly and Swansea are the top five local authorities for successful fly-tipping prosecutions in Wales, based on the latest Welsh Government figures for 2017/18.

Wales has seen a 36% increase in the number of successful fly-tipping prosecutions versus 2016/17 — the highest number in three years.

Neath Port Talbot came top with 37 successful cases, followed by Denbighshire and Swansea with a combination of 14 cases.

One of the local suthorites most high-profile prosecution cases was a 20-year-old man from Neath who was given a suspended jail term and ordered to pay costs and compensation of over £2,000 after admitting fly-tipping in three locations, including the car parks of Aberdulais Falls Visitor Centre.

The most improved areas last year:

Swansea down 51.56%

Vale of Glamorgan down 47.06%

Gwynedd down 26.12%

Cardiff down 25.84%

Isle of Anglesey down 22.04%

This table shows the data for all local authorities:

Gary Evans, programme manager at Fly-tipping Action Wales said: "Local authorities make up 22 of the 50 partners across Wales who work with us to tackle fly-tipping in Wales. It’s been a turning point for us this year with the number of fly-tipping incidents at its lowest in three years, and the number of successful prosecutions up by 36%.

"We’re constantly finding new, innovative ways to curb the fly-tipping problem in Wales, including the expansion of FlyMapper, our digital app that helps identify fly-tipping hotspots, and the introduction of the No More Rubbish Excuses marketing campaign launched in November 2018, which we believe has been instrumental in changing the behaviour of homeowners when it comes to waste disposal.

"People across Wales need to understand that fly-tipping is a crime. It harms the environment, the economy and local communities, and if you are caught fly-tipping you could face fines of up to £50,000 or imprisonment."