A man who was caught on CCTV flytipping three times in 89 minutes has been fined £2,600.
A neighbourhood warden from County Durham council found a flytip of soil in a rural setting at Bank Foot in July this year. CCTV footage was subsequently checked and it showed a vehicle entering the site on three occasions between 11.10am and 12.39pm the same day.
Another woman who was linked to two separate incidents of waste being dumped at a residential property has also been ordered to pay more than £600 in another case brought by Durham County Council, reports Chronicle Live.
In the first case, footage shows the driver, who is alone, in the vehicle getting out, opening the rear tailgate and depositing the first of three loads of soil. The vehicle can then be seen returning to the site an hour later with the same man depositing a second load of soil.
At 12.39pm, the vehicle enters the site for the third time and the same man deposits the final load of soil.
The vehicle was later found at an address where defendant Jonathon Mackenzie, 37, of Deanwood Close, Willington, was working. The vehicle was seized and the defendant was without it until after the court hearing.
Mackenzie was invited for interview and, when spoken to, confirmed he had dumped the waste and intended to fence the area off and later remove the waste, but he never returned. In court, he pleaded guilty to three charges of depositing controlled waste without a licence and explained to the magistrates how he intended to come back to the site and remove the waste.
Mackenzie was ordered to pay a fine of £503, a £233 victim surcharge and £1,804 in costs – a total of £2,620.
In the second case, Newton Aycliffe magistrates heard that another neighbourhood warden discovered waste in the back yard of a residential property at Tees Street in Horden, in December last year. The waste included a mattress and cushions as well as bin bags.
Correspondence was found within the waste addressed to the defendant Kimberley Jane Ellis, 37, of South Terrace, Horden. She was written to and did not respond, so was sent a legal notice requiring her to attend an interview.
The court heard that in the interim, a further deposit of waste was found at the same address in Tees Street and, again, evidence was found linking it to the same woman.
Ellis failed to attend the interview or to contact the council but was given a further opportunity to come in and speak to wardens. Again, she failed to attend or to make contact.
Ellis pleaded guilty to two charges in court. One, of failing to ensure her waste was transferred by an authorised person; and another of failing to attend an interview.
In mitigation, magistrates were told the woman was moving house and had paid someone £100 to move her waste but didn’t check whether they had a licence and wasn’t aware if her rubbish had been properly disposed of. The court heard Ellis didn’t attend an interview as she had been in hospital and then afterwards it slipped her mind.
Magistrates fined her £160, ordered her pay a victim surcharge of £64 and costs of £427.20 – a total of £651.20.
Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “There are all sorts of ways to get rid of waste legally, including our household waste recycling centres. We know the vast majority of our residents and businesses do dispose of their waste responsibly and we are grateful to them for that.
“Dumping waste as Mr Mackenzie did is never the answer as it is both unsightly and bad for the environment. It is also really important that people who are getting someone else to dispose of waste on their behalf, make sure it will end up at the right place. Ms Ellis made arrangements for someone to get rid of two lots of waste but did not ensure it was disposed of correctly, resulting in it being dumped at a residential property.
“Both defendants are now left with criminal convictions and with considerable financial penalties as a result of their actions. We hope what has happened to them will act as a lesson to both them and others in the future and show that we will pursue enforcement against anyone committing environmental offences.”
For information on how to dispose of waste responsibly, and locations of the council’s HWRCs, visit here.
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