Fly-tippers could be forced to help councils clear-up illegally dumped waste in a new drive to clean up the countryside.

Government recommendations include making offenders on community sentences – including people caught fly-tipping – help councils clear up litter and fly-tipped waste.

Litter louts could be hit with £150 fines as the government seeks to curb littering with proposals for new enforcement, education and community engagement.

Defra sccretary Andrea Leadsom said she wanted the government's first Litter Strategy for England to reduce the near £800m burden to the taxpayer of clean-up costs.

    See also: New action plan to tackle fly-tipping

Vehicle owners could receive penalty notices when it can be proved litter was thrown from their car – even if it was discarded by somebody else.

The new motoring rules, which are already in force in London, make owners liable even if they didn't throw the litter themselves.

Mrs Leadsom unveiled the strategy on Monday (10 April).

"Litter is something that affects us all – blighting our countryside, harming our wildlife, polluting our seas, spoiling our towns, and giving visitors a poor impression of our country," she said.

"Our litter strategy will tackle this antisocial behaviour by building an anti-litter culture; making it easier for people to dispose of rubbish; and hitting litter louts in the pocket.

"We want to be the first generation to leave our environment in a better state than we found it, and tackling litter is an important part of our drive to make the country a better place."

Recent figures suggest that fly-tippers are increasingly seeking out rural locations to dump industrial quantities of waste.

Other recommendations include stopping councils from charging householders for disposal of DIY household waste at civic amenity sites or rubbish dumps.

Legally, household waste is supposed to be free to dispose of at such sites.

The government will also work with Highways England to target the 25 worst litter hotspots across the road network to deliver long-lasting improvements to cleanliness.

Communities Minister Marcus Jones said: "It's time we consigned litter louts and fly-tippers to the scrap heap of history.

"Through our first ever National Litter Strategy we plan to do exactly that.

"Our plans include targeting the worst litter hotspots, cracking down on litter louts with increased fines and getting people to bin their rubbish properly."