Earl Spencer has revealed that persistent fly-tipping forced his family to sell part of the Northamptonshire farmland they had worked since 1893, prompting him to question whether politicians will ever act against the criminal gangs behind such waste dumping. He argues the problem has become so severe and costly for landowners that it made continued farming of the land untenable, using his family's experience to highlight a wider rural crime issue he says is being ignored by lawmakers.

The Spencer family sold 310 acres of Dallington farmland last year after the site was repeatedly targeted, with lorry-loads of construction waste dumped illegally overnight rather than minor litter or occasional flytipped items. The land held deep family significance, having been farmed since 1893 and linked to Spencer's grandfather, Jack Spencer, while the original family home there was given away in 1919 for wounded First World War servicemen. Spencer uses the article to call for stronger political action against the organised gangs responsible for fly-tipping on agricultural land.