Two fly-tippers prosecuted by St Albans City and District Council
Two fly-tippers were prosecuted last month by St Albans City and District Council and ordered to pay a total of more than £2,000 in fines and costs.
Charlie Bradford, of, Monks Close, St Albans, admitted transporting waste without a licence and illegally dumping it in Woodcock Hill.
He left a trail of multiple fly-tips of house clearance waste along a four-mile stretch of the quiet rural road between Sandridge and Coopers Green Lane.
The Council’s Environmental Enforcement team were alerted to the offence by residents and an investigation showed the waste was linked to a property in Borehamwood.
Further enquiries led to Bradford being interviewed under caution and he admitted dumping the rubbish late at night from a moving van that he had borrowed.
He admitted the two offences at a hearing at St Albans Magistrates Court on Wednesday 15 January.
Magistrates ordered him to pay £1,924 in legal costs incurred by the Council as well as a victim surcharge of £114.
He was also served with a 12-month community order including the requirement to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
In the other case, the Environmental Enforcement team were alerted to a fly-tip of furniture and household waste in Cherry Tree Lane, near Redbourn.
An examination of the material found letters addressed to Leanne Reid, of Leven Way, Hemel Hempstead, who was interviewed under caution.
She was advised that she had failed in her legal duties to check whether the person she had hired to dispose of the waste had a licence and to obtain a receipt.
The Council issued her with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) fine under the Environmental Protection Act. The waste carrier was also traced and issued with an FPN which they paid.
However, after Reid failed to pay her fine, court proceedings were started and she admitted the duty of care fly-tipping offence at St Albans Magistrates Court on Wednesday 29 January.
Magistrates gave her a six-month conditional discharge and ordered her to pay £100 towards the Council’s costs and a victim surcharge of £26.
Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Lead for Waste and Recycling, said after the hearings:
Fly-tipping is an antisocial and inexcusable offence and these prosecutions show we are determined to act against offenders.
Fly-tips are not only unsightly, but they are also a potential health hazard and it costs public agencies like ourselves, farmers and landowners significant sums of money to clear up.
Much fly-tipping, as in these cases, is done on isolated country roads, late at night when there are no eyewitnesses around.
It can be very difficult to trace offenders, so our enforcement team deserve high praise for the way they have tracked down these culprits.
There is also a warning here for people who are clearing a house or a commercial property – they must ensure the firm or person they hire to do so has a proper waste carrier’s licence and they must obtain a receipt. You leave yourself open to a potential fly-tipping offence if you don’t do that.
Photos: top, the Cherry Tree Lane fly-tip; bottom, the Woodcock Hill fly-tips.
Media contact: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727- 819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.