Fly-tipping, rubbish dumping and littering could be on the rise in North Somerset as the number of complaints is on the increase.

More than 17,400 complaints about missed recycling collections, 5,400 more regarding dumped rubbish and 1,200 complaints about littering were made to North Somerset Council between April 2013 and the end of August this year.

Just 0.087 per cent of rubbish collections were missed in the district in 2014-2015, but it still led to 7,584 complaints, 787 more than the previous year.

Liberal Democrat leader for North Somerset Mike Bell said ‘progress has been made’ when it comes to waste but highlighted there is ‘still an issue’ with fly-tipping.

In 2014-2015 the council received 2,343 complaints about fly-tipping and 572 reports of littering.

The total number of complaints in 2014-2015 rose by 11 per cent compared to 2013-2014.

Despite the rise, the figures for North Somerset are still better than those across the West of England, where there was an average of 4,200 complaints per council area about fly-tipping in 2014-15 and 624 about littering.

In North Somerset, Winford is the ward which had the highest number of reports about fly-tipping in 2014-2015, with 252 complaints to the council.

The issue has been put down to Bristol residents dumping their litter within North Somerset.

Winford is already the second worst ward in the district this year, with 71 complaints made so far in 2015-2016.

Weston’s South Ward is the worst so far this year, with 83 complaints logged.

Cllr Bell said: “There remains a very real issue with fly-tipping and missed rubbish collections across the district. Although some progress has been made, the growing number of complaints show that more action is needed.”

Cllr Bell said he would like to see more street sweepers used to combat rubbish problems.

He said: “I think the council should also look at more localised solutions, where needed, for example spring clean days where skips could be delivered free of charge to streets to promote responsible disposal of waste and bulky goods.

“The council must also ensure, as it approaches renewal of contracts for rubbish and recycling collections, that the focus remains on a high-quality and reliable service.”