Stranger raises funds to help farmer facing financial ruin

By Faye Mayern

A farmer facing financial ruin after being slapped with a $53,000 bill to remove fly-tipped waste on his land can now clear the mess thanks to a stranger's fundraising campaign.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said 200 tons of rubbish were dumped on his field in Hertfordshire last summer.

After enquiries to locate the perpetrator have so far turned up nothing, the arable farmer, in his 80s, has been left to foot the bill.

Stranger Archie Ford launched a Crowdfunder after reading about the farmer’s plight which made headlines and more than £50,000 was raised in just three days.

On March 9, Archie met with the man and neighboring farmer Will Dickinson, who has been supporting him.

The farmer can now clear the fly tipped mess, consisting of roofing material, bathroom and kitchen fittings, and house clearance rubbish.

The elderly farmer, who wants to remain anonymous, said: “I was facing a real-life nightmare, but I’ve been blown away by the support I’ve received from so many people.

"This has restored my faith in humanity. It’s been a pleasure to meet Archie and to thank him for everything.

“I am so grateful to everyone who has supported me. I had no idea what was going to happen to me.”

Any money raised leftover will be used to support other victims of fly-tipping in Hertfordshire.

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The National Farmer's Union is urging urges authorities to work together to secure more arrests and convictions and for penalties that reflect the impact of the crime.

Currently victims may have to report incidents to multiple authorities, which the organisation says is time "consuming, confusing and frustrating".

Archie who set up the Crowdfunder, said it was 'outrageous' that farmers were responsible for fly tipping if the perpetrator can't be found.

Archie, 31, said: “I knew I had to do something as soon as I read this farmer’s story – the situation he was facing was so unfair – and I have been amazed by how many people have supported the Crowdfunder.

“But not everybody can rely on a fundraising campaign, and things need to change.

"The situation is out of control with organised criminal gangs taking advantage of a deeply flawed system and our hardworking farmers are suffering as a result.

“I think it is outrageous what is happening to our countryside and that victims of this crime are having to pay thousands of pounds to clear up the mess."

Ford has backed the NFU’s calls for a major shake-up in how fly-tipping is tackled, with the crime costing the farming industry hundreds of millions of pounds a year in clear-up costs.

Neighboring farmer Will Dickinson, who has been victim to his own land being fly-tipped on, has been supporting the elderly man during his plight.

Dickinson, an NFU member, added: “There are so few arrests for fly-tipping and on the rare occasions when somebody is convicted, they receive a fine which is less than the cost of hiring a skip.

“We need stronger sentences to act as a deterrent, or criminal gangs will continue to wreak havoc on the countryside with impunity.”

The Environment Agency said while it does everything possible to ensure that those who dump waste pay to remove it, it becomes the landowner's responsibility if that was not possible.