The number of refuse fires believed to be deliberately set is not yet held centrally and so could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Data on refuse fires are calculated from aggregate monthly returns. These are limited to total number of refuse and refuse container fires attended by each Fire and Rescue Service. These data are shown in the table.
The recently implemented electronic Incident Recording System (IRS) records both the number and location of all incidents attended by Fire and Rescue Services. The number and location of refuse fires reported as having been deliberately set will therefore be available, with the first data being for 2009-10.
FRS area 2003 2004 2005 2006 20071 England 152,461 119,430 114,307 109,577 108,335 Avon 3,583 2,587 2,136 1,613 1,489 Bedfordshire 1,332 1,074 980 863 911 Berkshire 1,323 986 869 796 831 Buckinghamshire 1,821 1,385 1,349 1,307 1,181 Cambridgeshire 1,233 1,065 1,056 1,134 941 Cheshire 3,865 3,366 3,494 3,160 2,881 Cleveland 4,776 3,569 3,787 4,001 3,853 Cornwall 414 386 375 412 320 Cumbria 1,519 1,234 1,441 1,400 1,305 Derbyshire 1,586 1,297 1,161 1,351 1,230 Devon 1,794 1,617 1,419 1,597 1,459 Dorset 674 585 569 540 525 Durham 2,674 2,185 2,332 2,325 2,419 East Sussex 1,312 1,175 966 905 862 Gloucestershire 1,022 781 777 661 618 Greater London 18,883 14,275 14,007 12,055 12,478 Greater Manchester 14,237 10,847 11,058 10,543 10,451 Hampshire 3,405 3,025 2,646 2,728 2,512 Hereford and Worcester 1,024 721 667 721 621 Hertfordshire 1,981 1,427 1,469 1,311 1,197 Humberside 5,460 4,217 3,824 3,515 3,459 Isle of Wight 120 142 130 131 130 Isles of Scilly 6 1 0 5 0 Kent 3,836 3,199 2,978 2,481 2,326 Lancashire 6,349 4,574 4,324 4,260 4,362 Leicestershire 1,772 1,550 1,392 1,455 1,429 Lincolnshire 874 726 662 836 965 Merseyside 12,913 8,854 7,310 7,086 6,493 Norfolk 1,045 941 914 1,032 861 North Yorkshire 1,255 973 985 1,026 940 Northamptonshire 2,056 1,651 1,634 1,361 1,409 Northumberland 1,199 901 856 888 949 Nottinghamshire 2,746 2,111 2,128 2,080 1,983 Oxfordshire 678 602 575 483 553 Shropshire 1,037 827 854 787 784 Somerset 729 556 490 507 541 South Yorkshire 5,850 4,670 4,965 4,958 5,563 Staffordshire 2,704 2,335 2,355 2,272 2,327 Suffolk 844 787 689 782 713 Surrey 1,185 951 945 940 916 Tyne and Wear 7,869 6,104 5,488 6,035 6,050 Warwickshire 1,088 936 831 887 816 West Midlands 9,514 7,733 7,570 7,067 7,029 West Sussex 1,212 972 838 727 728 West Yorkshire 10,949 9,030 8,455 8,000 8,407 Wiltshire 713 500 557 553 518 1 Data for 2007 are provisional and subject to change Source: CLG