Vehicles have been seized during an operation to target suspected fly-tippers.

Kent Police worked in partnership with Gravesham Borough Council, Dartford Borough Council and the Environment Agency.

The four agencies joined forces across north Kent on Tuesday to carry out a series of patrols and stop checks in the Gravesend and Dartford areas.

The activity led to eight vehicles, many of which are suspected to have been involved in illegally dumping waste, being seized.

Earlier this week, a report by NFU Mutual revealed Kent is among the worse counties for rural crime, including theft, trespassing and fly-tipping.

A farming family in Harvel took matters into their own hands last month to stop fly-tippers repeatedly dumping rubbish on their land.

Inspector Sarah Rivett, from Kent Police, said: "Fly-tipping is an unacceptable nuisance and a danger to public safety.

"Although local councils are the lead agencies for such offending, we simply will not turn a blind eye to the detrimental impact it has on our communities.

"We are always working in close partnership with local councils, and the Environment Agency, to share intelligence and determine the most appropriate course of action.

"This day of action was the culmination of such work and I am confident it has caused considerable disruption to those involved in fly-tipping offences.

"Members of the public can expect to see similar operations in the future"

In Gravesend, seven untaxed vehicles which belonged to a single person were seized by Kent Police’s Rural Task Force in the Springhead Road area.

The vehicles are also suspected to have been involved in fly-tipping and three of them were found to contain large quantities of builders’ waste.

Further enforcement work took place across the border in Dartford.

The day began with the Community Policing Team working with the partner agencies to create a vehicle check point in Manor Way, with 16 vehicles stopped.

As a result of these stops, a Renault Master van was seized due to the driver having no insurance and the motorist was also issued with a traffic offence report. A fixed penalty notice was also issued to the driver of a Mercedes Sprinter which was allegedly transporting commercial waste without a licence.

A further four vehicles were stopped during a patrol of the Thames Road area in the afternoon. The motorists of two of these vehicles, both Mercedes Sprinters, were given a warning by the Environment Agency for failing to produce a waste carrier licence.

Cllr John Burden, leader of Gravesham council, said: "We know that environmental crime is high on the list of concerns of our residents.

"We have a zero-tolerance approach to such offences and work closely with our partners at Kent Police and the Environment Agency to identify and take action against those responsible.

"This involves a combination of proactive operations, such as this latest successful one, and reactive action, including the careful examination of fly-tips for evidence which may lead us to those responsible.

"The message is clear to those responsible for damaging our environment: we will use all the resources at our disposal to find you, and when we do we will take action against you."

Read more: All the latest news from Gravesend

Read more: All the latest news from Dartford