The council is now investigating the suspected illegal dumping incident
Startling CCTV images have revealed the moment a lorry appeared to dump a massive mound of rubbish outside a business in Croydon – which also happens to be England’s fly-tipping hotspot.
The clip shows a substantial heap of garden waste, concrete, rubble, and various construction debris being abandoned outside the Hydro Bros shop in Croydon, South London. Steve Wong, 46, who runs the garden equipment firm, said he was stunned when he spotted the mountain of refuse on his CCTV on May 10.
The lorry had arrived at approximately 2:15 in the afternoon, though staff hadn’t noticed until they reviewed the footage at around 7:30pm. Steve says they were forced to pay a firm £1,500 to clear it all overnight so they could open for trade on Monday morning.
He said: “I was just randomly checking the CCTV and I saw a whole load of sh*t. This guy just dumped it there. We were scrambling to get it sorted. It was smack bang in front of our shutters so we needed to get it gone so that we could still be operational on Monday morning.”
Steve added: “It shocked me. You always hear about people being robbed or something bad happening but you don’t expect it to happen to you. I was panicked of how late it was because we had to get it sorted ASAP to open again. Finding someone who could sort it out was a challenge. They were heroes.”
CCTV captures a man dressed entirely in black leaving the lorry to unlock the rear doors before raising it to tip all the contents outside the shutters. Steve revealed that following the incident, he’s been making enquiries and discovered numerous other businesses on the estate have suffered similar problems.
Croydon has been branded the fly-tipping capital of England after over 50,000 incidents were logged in 2024-2025, according to Defra figures. The practice costs Croydon Council £1m annually to tackle, with locals reporting that illegal dumps frequently resurface within 24 hours of clearance.
Graham Mitchell, 68, who has lodged an astonishing 18,000 fly-tip reports via the local authority’s app, said: “I report every day and the average is around 45-46 fly-tips every day. It has been getting worse. It is very frustrating, this is where I live and most of us want clean streets. It is only a small minority that thinks they can get away with dumping waste, but it affects everybody. People see it on their streets and it becomes normalised.”
Business owner Steve, who launched his business six years ago after leaving a role in finance, explained that trading conditions have been challenging and this incident was the last thing they needed.
While Clear It managed to shift enough waste for the shop to open its doors, working until midnight, the business still faced a substantial bill for disposal.
Steve said: “It is expensive, but it is just another chapter of being a business owner. I wouldn’t say business is going great. Any business in this economy is suffering. We are just getting hammered left right and centre by new regulations.”
He added: “Now with the war going on there are also increases in fuel. We are just getting hit from every side so this is just another thing. We have just got to crack on and keep going. It is not a case of hoping we make a profit it is hoping that we are still in business.”
A Croydon Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of a reported fly tipping incident at Progress Business Park, Progress Way, Croydon, and our Environmental Enforcement Team is making enquiries. Whilst we cannot comment directly on this specific incident due to ongoing enquiries, we take a zero tolerance approach to fly tipping.”
They added: “Where there is sufficient evidence, we will take appropriate enforcement action, which may include pursuing prosecution. Fly tipping is a criminal offence and we encourage anyone with information that may assist the investigation to contact the Council quoting reference: 26/00799/NSTFLY.”
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