The worst streets in Merton for fly-tipping have been revealed.

Information obtained by the Wimbledon Times through a Freedom of Information request also showed just how much it cost the council to clean up the illegally dumped waste, before services were contracted out to Veolia.

The figures painted a bleak picture for Mitcham, which was home to four of the top five most fly-tipped streets.

This came as a concern to Mitcham and Morden MP, Siobhain McDonagh who herself has been noticed her fair share of illegal dumping.

"I wholeheartedly share the frustration of residents about flytipping and barely a day goes by when I, or the local councillors, don’t report it ourselves," she said.

"We must come down hard on flytippers and, however dispiriting it is for residents, I really hope they will keep complaining so that the culprits can be caught, fined and stopped.”

In the 2016/17 financial year, the estimated cost for Merton Council to clean up the fly-tips was a staggering £175,000. The following year 5,676 fixed penalty notices were issued by the local authority for fly-tipping or littering. Of these nearly 400 prosecutions were made, roughly one for every 14.

A council spokeswoman said: “Merton Council has a zero tolerance approach towards people who dump their waste illegally and drop litter.

"Deterring people from offending is important, which is why we fine fly-tippers the maximum £400 that the law allows.

"We prosecute people for fly tipping where fines are not paid and for large scale fly tipping."

The four Mitcham streets which cracked the top five list were Caithness Road, Streatham Road, Ashbourne Road and Commonside East with Morden's Abbotsbury Road rounding out the group.

The spokeswoman said measures are being taken to address this issue.

“We have communicated with residents in these specific roads, providing details of our bulky waste collection service and advising them that they can take items to the household reuse site in Garth Road Morden," she said.

"We have also carried out enforcement - a number of fixed penalty notices have been issued for littering and fly-tipping offences.”