DORSET Crime Commissioner David Sidwick has stepped into the recent controversy where a woman was fined £500 for leaving furniture outside her home – inviting people to take them away.

Her action led to a fine and wide reporting of the incident, including in the national media.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner says in his opinion similar actions do amount to fly-tipping.

"There seems to be a sort of philosophy occurring that if you throw something outside your front door and hope somebody comes to get it that's not fly tipping. I'm sorry, but I think it is," he told a meeting of the county-wide Police and Crime Panel.

The Commissioner says there should be a lack of tolerance for what he describes as 'micro tipping' where small amounts of rubbish are dumped and towards dumping which is now being arranged by criminals.

He says his office has part-funded a fly tipping co-ordinator role for Dorset Council which has resulted in a doubling of the number of prosecutions and now has, in some rural areas, a team of up to ten people, often on horseback, which are helping report rural fly tipping.

He said he would rather see people advertise what they no longer want on any social media outlet rather than fly tip, or dispose of it properly.

"If you are disposing of waste make sure the person doing it for you is a reputable person because you will be subject to the fine, or sanction, if it is subsequently found it is your stuff which has turned up where it shouldn't be… it's not only the carrier, but the person who has employed the carrier," he said.