More than 13 tonnes of asbestos were dumped in the forest in a two month period.

During October and November three separate fly-tips saw asbestos dumped in Epping Forest.

The hazardous material, which can cause certain kinds of cancer, is particularly difficult to remove.

Paul Thomas, superintendent of Epping Forest, said: "There were three asbestos tips which are very expensive to collect.

"The total of the three tips cost £1,855 to remove.

"This cost equates to the disposal of 13.25 tonnes of non-hazardous waste which costs £69.50 per 500 kilo."

While the dumping of hazardous material in the forest is never welcomed, it comes against a promising backdrop in terms of illegal rubbish disposal.

There were 27 fly-tips during October and November 2018, a 68 per cent decrease on the same period last year.

Mr Thomas added: " There have been significant steps taken to increase security of Forest locations over the recent months, which may have contributed to this figure, it is becoming more obvious that the locking of car parks is displacing fly-tipping to neighbouring areas."