Company ordered to pay more than £7,000 for fly-tip
A removals firm was ordered to pay more than £7,000 for illegally dumping the contents of a shop clearance on a country road.
St Albans City and District Council successfully prosecuted Nastasia Ltd for the fly-tip in Little Revel End Lane, near Redbourn.
The Council’s General Enforcement Officers traced the waste to a jeweller in London after examining the contents.
Enquiries revealed the jeweller had hired Nastasia, a Watford-based company, to transport some furniture and they had offered to remove the waste as well for an extra fee.
However, instead of disposing of the material at a waste and recycling centre, the firm had dumped it instead.
Among the rubbish were broken plastic chairs, stepladders, cardboard boxes and packaging.
The company’s director George Nastasia was interviewed under caution by a Council officer and admitted the fly-tip offence.
St Albans Magistrates fined his firm £3,333 and ordered it to pay a victim surcharge of £1,333 and a contribution to the Council’s costs of £2,473.50, making a total of £7,139.50.
Mr Nastasia admitted the firm did not have a waste carrier licence and blamed the fly-tipping on a new employee.
He could not provide any contact details for the employee whom he had sacked for other reasons.
Mr Nastasia, who earned up to £3,000 a month from his man-with-a-van firm, agreed to pay the fines and costs at a rate of £300 a month.
Councillor Helen Campbell, Chair of the Public Realm Committee, said after the court hearing:
This is the second successful prosecution we have undertaken in the past few weeks for fly-tipping.
It shows that we are determined to act against fly-tippers despite the challenges involved in tracking down the perpetrators.
Fly-tips are an eyesore, a health hazard and a major concern for many of our residents such as farmers or other landowners who are often the victims of illegal dumps.
The firm in this case has been hit hard with penalties of more than £7,000 and I hope that will act as a deterrent to anyone else thinking of carrying out such an offence.
Media contact: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727- 819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.