Of those, nearly half involved 20 tyres or more.

The total cost of disposal is thought to be around £2 million. In February, Kwik-Fit’s David White spoke of how the retailer spent £250,000 a year secondary tipping disposal costs itself.

According to the association, the survey was carried out in response to fears that the authorities tended to overlook this form of fly-tipping as the responsibility for disposal lay with the retailer where the tyres had been dumped.

Commenting on the response of the authorities NTDA Director Richard Edy said: “It’s a constant battle to ensure that this form of fly tipping, which we estimate is costing our membership several million pounds a year, is brought to the attention of the local authorities and the environment agency.

“At the last meeting of the Used Tyre Working group where I represent tyre retailers, the environment agency gave little comfort when told that 46% of members revealed in the survey that they didn’t even bother to report this form of fly-tipping because they were not interested in responding.”