Farmer installed CCTV to catch someone dumping tires on his land. Few days later, all 421 ended up at the culprit's doorstep
He gave the suspected fly-tipper a chance to fix the mess himself. When nothing happened, the farmer took matters into his own hands.
Livestock farmer Stuart Baldwin had long been dealing with fly-tippers using his farmland in Haydock near Wigan as a dumping ground, something he says happens around 25 times a year, according to the Daily Mail. However, one incident pushed him past his limit when he arrived at his field to find a massive pile of tires left behind. When counted, there were 421 tires scattered across the land.
Caught on tape
The discovery was frustrating, but this time Baldwin had something he hadn’t had before. After repeatedly being targeted, he had installed CCTV cameras around the property, hoping to catch whoever was responsible. When the tires appeared, the footage, as shared in a YouTube video by 'Whats the channel,' revealed a man unloading them from a van and leaving them behind. "We put a camera up, and he came back with some tires, and we just got him," Baldwin later explained. Instead of immediately taking matters into his own hands, Baldwin first tried allowing the suspected fly-tipper to fix the situation.
2 days deadline
"He came down, and he said he was going to move them, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and a couple of days breathing [time]," Baldwin said. But after the deadline passed, the tires were still sitting in the field. At that point, Baldwin decided to handle the situation himself. "I was getting so angry with people flytipping on my land, it was time to do something about it, to take matters into our own hands," he told the Manchester Evening News. Using a truck from the family recycling business, SED Services Ltd, Baldwin and a group of helpers loaded the tires onto the vehicle. They drove the entire load of tires to the address they believed belonged to the person who dumped them and began unloading them into the front garden.
At least eight people helped move the tires off the vehicle, creating a massive pile outside the house. As the tires were dropped off, he could be heard saying, "F****** fantastic that's what that f***** gets," before later adding, "Done now, given them back, so thank you." Baldwin said the point was never to cause damage but simply to return the waste to where it came from. He also pointed out that many local waste disposal sites allow people to drop off rubbish for free, which makes illegal dumping even more frustrating for those who own the land where it ends up.
According to the most recent official government data, local authorities in England dealt with 1.26 million fly-tipping incidents in 2024–25 — up about 9% from 1.15 million the previous year — and household waste accounted for roughly 62 % of these cases. On average, there were around 21 fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people in the country during that period, with pavements and roads being the most common locations for dumped waste.
His daughter Megan Baldwin, 25, explained the family was careful while delivering the tires. "We wish no harm to him or any property, hence why we placed them in his garden without causing any damage," she said. "We just want to prove a point that you can't just go around fly-tipping wherever you want, as it isn't fair." Baldwin said the support from the community has been overwhelming, with people even approaching him in the street to say they approved of how he handled the situation. "I was just tires of it! It's not been a Goodyear for him! We left him deflated, that's for sure!" he said. He also admitted that the drive home after returning the tires had one small silver lining. "We were smiling all the way home that day," he said.
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This article originally appeared 2 months ago.
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