The farmers were shown pulling up to a white van surrounded by rubbish as two men clear out what appears to be broken furniture onto the land. The video showed a  man get out of the car and approach the fly-tippers before grabbing one and pushing them to the ground. The farmer then starts hitting the fly-tipper with his own rubbish. The video ends with a green forklift truck tipping over the fly-tippers’ white van, leaving the trespassers to run away from the scene.

The incident is believed to have taken place just after 12am today in Essex. A video of the incident was shared on Facebook group Machinery & Construction and has since been shared nearly 15,000 times.

The clip has been viewed more than half a million times and over 1,000 people have commented,  with many supporting the farmers for taking action into their own hands. 

One comment read: “Love it fantastic well done to you all.” 

Another said: “Good to see farmers protecting their land, brilliant.” 

In April, Braintree district in Essex was revealed to have the third highest rate of agricultural fly-tipping in the country alongside a spate of incidents across the country.

The North West has seen 366 incidents of agricultural fly-tipping reported over the last 12 months, while the South West has seen more than 200 incidents. 

Farmers are often responsible for clearing the rubbish away and are liable if the rubbish has damaged the countryside. Two-thirds of farmers incur costs to clean-up their rural areas which can cost an average of just under £1,000 per incident. 

But, industry experts say that the statistics are just the tip of the iceberg because official statistics do not include a lot of incidents on private land. 

Farmers and Mercantile Insurance Brokers Will Kendrick, said: “Innocent farmers have the choice of footing the clean-up bill or facing significant fines for not dealing with someone else’s mess.”

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