ALMOST £4.2 million has been paid by Greater Manchester councils to clean up after fly-tippers.

Last year Bolton Council had to pay £146,889 to clear up after fly-tippers and neighbouring Bury paid £217,476.

Bolton's bill was the fifth highest of the 10 Greater Manchester (GM) councils, for clearing up 2,065 lots of tipped rubbish.

This figure is a significant reduction on 2015/16 when Bolton Council dealt with 2,964 cases of fly-tipping.

The councils with the lowest bills were Oldham and Tameside, which paid £81,150 and £93,032 respectively.

All of the GM councils' figures paled in comparison to Manchester city centre's bill which stood at £2,812,890 last year.

The city centre authority cleaned up 28,508 cases of fly-tipping.

A spokesman for Bolton Council, said: "We are committed to tackling enviro-crime and the reduction in flytipping incidents is thanks to our targeted education of residents and consistent enforcement.

"In 2015, the council invested £1.3 million on improving the local environment, including developing new behaviour change teams to educate local residents.

"The teams have the power to issue fixed penalty notices to residents who are not disposing of their waste correctly.

"Over the past two years, the council has also employed two dedicated enforcement officers to visit businesses across the borough to check waste is being disposed correctly.

"We are continuing to invest in tackling fly-tipping and other measures we have introduced in the last six months include: £400 on-the-spot fines to anyone caught fly-tipping or dumping rubbish. We also have invested in two mounted lamppost cameras to help us catch flytippers.

"Officers have been provided with bodycams to assist in providing evidence for the issuing of fixed penalty notices and any subsequent court cases. We would encourage all residents to continue reporting fly-tips to us along with any other information that will help us identify those responsible."

Insurance firm Lycetts says there is a hidden cost to fly-tipping.

The figures published by the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs only account for council land.

William Nicholl, head of the broker's rural division says farmers who fall prey to fly-tipping have to shoulder the burden themselves, with an average cost of £1,000 per clean up.

He said: "Farmers are well aware of this issue and are saddened by the visual impact it has on the countryside they maintain, as well as it being a nuisance and inconvenience.

"However, I don't think that farmers are as aware that, should they fail to deal with incidences of fly-tipping on their land and it leads to environmental damage, they could be held liable under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

"With many authorities looking at introducing charges for bulky waste and organic waste collections and charging for dumping waste at council-run tips, there is a fear that fly-tipping incidents on farmland will increase."

Nationally, fly-tipping costs the taxpayer £58 million to clear up each year. According to Lycetts January sees a big increase in fly-tipping as households look to get rid of festive waste including old Christmas trees.