An unprecedented rise in litter, damaging fires and “fly-camping” across the English countryside is partly a result of the government spending less than £2,000 a year over the past decade on promoting the Countryside Code, campaigners say.

The code, a set of simple guidelines to help rural visitors respect wildlife, local people and landscapes, was relaunched in England in 2004 after the new “right to roam” law increased access to the countryside.

But after a brief flurry of advertising devised by the makers of Wallace and Gromit, successive governments since 2010 spent just £2,000 every 18 months reprinting the code for distribution until recent months. In comparison, the government spent £46m on last year’s “Get ready for Brexit” campaign.

A survey of visitors to the Lake District this summer found that while 70% had stocked up on alcohol for the trip and 25% were bringing barbecues, only 13% said they were aware before their visit that they should follow the Countryside Code. Twenty per cent were visiting the area for the first time.

Rural landowners have reported unprecedented problems as millions holiday in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic. 

There has been widespread littering, numerous dry heathlands catching fire because of disposable barbecues, and many incidents of dogs worrying livestock and wildlife.

Fly-tipping has increased by 50% in the last six years, prompting councils to call for much bigger penalties for offenders.

More than a million incidents of illegal rubbish dumping were recorded in the financial year 2018-19, which cost councils £58m to clean up. Most incidents involved household waste being jettisoned from cars or vans by the side of a road.

The maximum fine for fly-tipping is £50,000 and/or a five-year prison sentence. But 83% of the court-imposed fines in the last six years were below £500. Only two people have been given the maximum fine since new guidelines were introduced in 2014.

Councils are handing out more on-the-spot fines and pursuing more prosecutions. Offending vehicles can be seized and in some cases are crushed. The number seized jumped to 207 last year. However, councils have lost 60% of their central government funding since 2010, meaning less money is available for action against fly-tippers.

“Fly-tipping is not only an illegal, inexcusable and ugly blight on society, it is a serious public health risk,” said David Renard, the environment spokesman for the Local Government Association and leader of Swindon borough council. “Councils are determined to crack down on the problem. However, tougher sentences are needed to act as a stronger deterrent to criminals dumping waste.

The government’s new litter strategy is “a missed opportunity” to tackle the £50m rural scourge of fly-tipping as an environmental crime, the NFU has said.

Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom unveiled the government’s first Litter Strategy for England on 10 April. It includes proposals to fine litter louts £150 and issue penalty notices to vehicle owners when it can be proved litter was thrown from their car.

It also contains plans to force fly-tippers to clean up their own waste and councils banned from charging residents to dispose of DIY household waste at the tip.

NFU deputy president Minette Batters welcomed the proposals but said the law courts needed to use their sentencing powers to deliver tougher penalties to fly-tippers.

Under current laws, serious offences of fly-tipping are punishable by an unlimited fine or up to five years in prison. But the NFU says magistrates are not using their full sentencing powers to punish fly-tippers appropriately.