THE true extent of fly-tipping in and around Oxford has been revealed after The Oxford Times found enough rubbish in an hour to create a living room, albeit a rather down-at-heel one We decided to investigate the problem of illegal dumping after new figures showed that fly-tipping in Oxfordshire had increased by 60 per cent in a year.

There are an average of 16 incidents a day and it did not take us long to discover the impact this is having on our environment.

Within 60 minutes of leaving our headquarters at Osney Mead, we had found illegally-dumped household and commercial waste in hedgerows, ditches and fields in and around the city.

Our haul included a television, DVD player, settee, armchair, patio table, chairs and rotting carpets.

First stop was a country road between Stanton St John and Barton.

A huge mound of dumped household waste included lengths of guttering, a double mattress, carpets, children's clothing, storage cupboards and black bin bags stuffed with rotting food.

And just 250 yards down the road we found a settee and an armchair in a hedge.

Mark Leonard, Oxfordshire County Council's waste enforcement officer, said: "I can't say I am surprised."

New figures collected by the Environment Agency show that in 2004/05 there were 3,689 fly-tipping incidents across Oxfordshire a figure that rose by 60 per cent to 5,910 in 2005/06.

Our next stop was a lay-by on Oxford's Eastern Bypass between Sainsbury's at Heyford Hill and Abingdon Road, where we found a pile of waste invisible to the passing traffic.

Shopping trolleys, vats of catering oil, televisions, kitchen appliances, paint barrels and wine bottles had been thrown down the bank.

Brian Van-Dungey, 64, a parish councillor who has battled fly-tippers at Cuddesdon, near Oxford, said: "It's the tip of the iceberg. I suspect if you drove around Oxfordshire you would need an articulated lorry to pick up what has been dumped."

Those convicted of fly-tipping face a maximum fine of £50,000 and five years' imprisonment.

Despite the fact people had taken time and effort to drive to these spots to dump their waste, the safe and legal disposal of household rubbish at council-run depots actually costs nothing.

Our final haul included a garden shed door and a patio table and chairs from a ditch at Redbridge Hollow, ironically just yards away from the Redbridge recycling depot.