FLYTIPPING in the countryside is already bad in parts of the country and it will get worse, rural business advisers Strutt & Parker have warned.

They believe that the temptation to dump waste illegally will rise because of the increasing cost of disposing of waste at landfill sites.

If this coincides with the adoption of proposals to introduce a household "dustbin tax", an even bigger flytipping problem could be on the horizon.

Landowners near major towns and cities will bear the brunt of illegal tipping and will be faced with the problem, and cost, of organising its removal, it says.

The landfill tax escalator, introduced in 1999, commits the Government to raising waste taxes by £1 per tonne each year over the next ten years as part of its objective to reduce the amount of waste which is put into landfill.

In the 2002 Budget, however, the Chancellor announced plans to increase the tax rate significantly and, in his recent budget statement, said he intended to consult on proposals to increase the landfill tax by £3 per tonne per year starting in 2005-06.

This will be part of the plan to set a long-term tax rate of £35 per tonne and would mean that the tax bill alone for landfilling a 20 tonne load would be £700 a tonne, says Strutt & Parker's Francis Thompson.

On top of that there would be the site owner's fee. "The higher the costs, the more fly tipping will take place," he said. "The temptation to flytip will be huge.

"Flytipping is not only a dangerous and unsightly nuisance, but can cause considerable inconvenience and cost for farmers.

"The likelihood is that, over the next few years, the risk of fly- tipping will increase, and farmers, particularly those on so called green lanes, will need to risk-assess their farms, and take measures to guard against it."

At the heart of the issue is the pressure the Government is under to get the UK recycling more. Britain recycles about 12pc of its waste compared with more than 40pc for some other EU countries.

Raising landfill taxes is seen as being the way to encourage more industrial recycling, and introducing a household dustbin tax is one of many proposals to encourage the public to do the same.

According to the Environment Agency, flytipping is a significant, and growing problem. In 2001 the agency responded to 3,774 incidents of flytipping, 12 of which were classified as severe. Waste materials like household rubbish, food and drink containers, vehicles and tyres, and inert materials like construction waste and soils are common.

According to a recent Environment Agency survey of local authorities, the majority believe flytipping is a "significant or major problem", with 60pc believing it had increased since the introduction of the landfill tax.

Flytipping is a criminal offence, and the Environment Agency can prosecute tippers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In 2001-2, it won 132 successful prosecutions, with fines of up to £20,000 and six months' imprisonment if convicted in a magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine and up to five years' imprisonment if special waste was involved.

To try to reduce the incidence of illegal tipping, the Environment Agency has set up a specific stakeholder forum, of which the NFU and CLA are members.

The guide can be downloaded from its web site oil www.environment-agency.gov.uk.

Advice to reduce or prevent flytipping includes:

* taking action as soon as rubbish is discovered, as left waste tends to attract more;

* fencing potential tipping sites;

* gating and locking open path or road entries;

* closing lay-bys or sites where vehicles can pull off the road;

* clearing vegetation to increase visibility, lighting the site;

* installing video cameras.

The special phone number to report tipping is 0800 807060.

"From a landowner's point of view I hope the Government will take into account the increased risk and put in place steps to counter it," said Mr Thompson. "Farmers cannot and should not be left with the responsibility for clearing up other people's rubbish, and nor should they have to pay."