No actions were taken to punish fly-tipping offenders in Bridgend county during the pandemic.
Bridgend Council received over 1,700 reports of fly-tipping in 2020/21 but no fixed penalty notices were issued during this time.
According to a council spokesperson, no notices were issued because the authority "had to urgently reprioritise staff and resources as a result of the global pandemic".
Read more: Fly-tipping and noise nuisance complaints rising across Swansea
"While this ensured that fly-tipping could be cleared as normal," a council statement read.
"We also had to take into account staff well-being and the need to avoid exposing people to materials that could be potentially contaminated with Covid-19.
"This was a temporary measure which reflected the operational requirements of the pandemic, and normal procedures are being introduced again as the situation continues to improve."
A Freedom of Information request made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) found Llangewydd Road, Bryntirion, had the most reports of fly-tipping with 30 incidents in 2020/21 when compared with other streets/roads.
In May, a pony was trapped in a field near Bridgend Paper Mills after more than 50 tyres were dumped outside the entrance gate.
Data obtained by the LDRS also shows 1,788 incidents were reported to Bridgend Council between April 1 2019 and March 31 2020, which resulted in 15 fixed penalty notices being issued.
During the same period in 2020/21, the authority received 1,744 reports of fly-tipping, marking a 25% decrease in cases.
Fly-tipping reports in Neath Port Talbot increased by almost a third during the pandemic, while Newport Council saw a 600 per cent rise in the number of fines issued for fly-tipping in 2020, compared with the previous year.
