A charity has revealed that it has spent over £1m to clear up fly-tipping from British woodlands over the past five years.

While the Woodland Trust said it did not condone the behaviour, it admitted the closure of council refuse sites and bin collection charges could be linked to the scale of littering.

Citing incidents involving everything from fridges to mattresses, the group said its bill for 2018 was £200,000.

In some of the more bizarre incidents, they found a bath and even a shrine with a sheep’s head.

Last year there were 1,290 separate fly-tipping and littering incidents, 998 of which occurred in English woodlands, the charity said.

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“Reaching over £1 million spent in the last five years on clearing up mess in our woods is clearly not a milestone to celebrate,” said Darren Moorcroft, director of estate and woodland outreach.

“This money could have helped us plant many trees or protect woods that are in desperate need of help.

“The rubbish also creates an eyesore which affects people’s overall visitor experience.”

The worst region in England for fly-tipping was the north, where the trust had to undertake 576 clean-ups of illegal waste, at a cost of more than £63,900.

Livingston in Scotland had the biggest bill for clearing rubbish, with costs of £14,000 in 2018. As in previous years, a big problem is “green-tipping”, with commercial garden waste dumped in woods.

The Woodland Trust warned that while people might think dumping green waste was harmless, the additional nutrients carried by discarded plant material can harm the natural balance of woodland habitat.

Other blackspots last year were Smithills Estate in Bolton where more than £11,000 was spent on clearing up mostly fly-tipping, while just over £8,000 was spent at Hainault, London and almost £6,000 at Windmill Hill, near Runcorn, Cheshire.

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Mr Moorcroft warned that they had the right to take legal action against offenders, and in the past prosecutions had resulted in sizeable fines.

“Whilst not condoning people’s behaviour in dumping this mess, one contributing fact could be the closure of council refuse sites and extra charges placed on the likes of green bins, certainly when it comes to garden waste mess such as grass clippings,” he added.

Last summer Michael Gove announced a crackdown on illegal waste dumping, which is estimated to have cost the English economy more than £600m in 2015.

He blamed “organised criminals running illegal waste dumps”, which can also be used as a cover for more serious crimes.