INCREASED charges to dump some waste at recycling centres could see 'lorry loads' of fly-tipped waste blight the countryside, it has been claimed.

On October 1, when Oxfordshire County Council begins a new contract with W&S Recycling, it will cost £1.50 to dispose of most non-household waste items – and up to £10 for some.

At the moment it is free to dispose the first three items of DIY waste at the county's seven tips and people can get rid of another 10 for £1 each in any four-week period.

The county council said the increased charges, which were backed by residents after a consultation aimed at staving off recycling centre closures, would not lead to an increase in flytipping.

But arable farmer Jeff Powell, who owns a farm in West Hagbourne, near Didcot, and is the chairman of the National Farmers' Union in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, said he was 'horrified' by the increase and called for the decision to be reversed.

He said: "This is guaranteed to cause an increase in flytipping and farmers' fields will be targeted because flytippers are less easily detected there.

"Farmers have already seen an increase in flytipping over the past five years and this is bound to make the situation worse.

"Every farmer I know in South Oxfordshire has experienced a problem - we have had lorryloads of tyres dumped, plasterboard and builders' waste.

"The penalties for flytipping are not high enough and I am astonished by this decision."

The county council stressed that its existing scheme has been in place for 15 years and charges of £1 per item have not risen during this period.

It will still remain free to dispose of household waste.

Cowley county councillor John Sanders, who represents Labour, also said the increases should be scrapped because they would lead to more flytipping.

Mr Sanders added: "I think a significant minority will dump their DIY waste alongside the county's roads as a result of this increase and the cost of cleaning up the extra flytipped waste will fall on the district councils.

"You will get places where flytippers chuck waste out of the car window onto the side of the road and then that will become a spot where rubbish accumulates.

"Flytippers will find a quiet nook and before you know it it will be full of waste – tyres will now cost £5 each to dispose of and a piece of plasterboard will cost £10."

County council leader Ian Hudspeth said: "I don't think this increase will lead to more flytipping.

"If someone is spending thousands on renovating their bathroom and they dispose of a toilet, bath and basin that will cost them a total of £4.50.

"I don't think they are likely to break the law by flytipping and risk a £5,000 fine.

"Most people will think this service is good value and the new contract means all seven recycling centres are staying open."

In April an investigation was launched after more than 50 tyres were found dumped in a field near Banbury – it would cost £250 to dump that number under the new charges.

The illegal flytipping was reported to Cherwell District Council after 56 car tyres were found off the A422 Stratford Road near Wroxton.

Tyres had been thrown over a wall into a ditch, near a layby containing glass bottle banks close to Ironstone Lane.