Woman fined after broken bed found in fly-tip in St Albans

A 43-year-old woman has been ordered to pay £315 after her broken bed and mattress were found dumped under an M1 motorway bridge in St Albans.

The woman from Leavesden was fined by St Albans Magistrates Court on 16 August after failing to ensure her waste was disposed of properly.

The court heard that she had used Facebook to find a man with a transit van to dispose of her broken bed and mattress. She paid the man £25, but did not ask to see any waste carrier’s licence or other relevant documentation before passing the waste to him.

St Albans City and District Council prosecuted the woman after investigating fly-tipped waste found dumped under the bridge in Bedmond Lane on or around 17 September 2016. The fly-tip contained a mattress and parts of a broken bed marked with an address in Leavesden linked to her.

She pleaded guilty to failing to discharge her legal ‘duty of care’ in disposing of controlled waste, contrary to Section 34(1) Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The court gave the woman credit for an early guilty plea fining her £120. It also ordered her to pay costs of £165 and to pay a victim surcharge of £30, making a total of £315.

Cllr Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for Environment for St Albans City and District Council, said: “Everyone has a legal responsibility to make sure that their waste is disposed of properly. If they fail to do this and their waste is tracked back to them after being discovered in a fly-tip, they could be prosecuted and fined.”

Householders and businesses have a ‘duty of care’ under the Environmental Protection Act to ensure that their waste is transferred only to authorised persons. To prevent waste being fly-tipped they need to:

• Check that the person they pass their waste to is an authorised carrier online or by calling 03708 506506.
• Check where the waste is going.
• Ask for a receipt detailing where the waste is going, information about the transportation vehicle and the carrier’s authorisation number. This is a legal obligation for businesses, but householders are also advised to request this information.
• Take waste to a Household Waste and Recycling Centre. Centres run by Hertfordshire County Council are listed online.

If anyone sees people dumping waste, call the police on 999, tell them where the crime is in progress and pass on as much information as possible. Make a note of the vehicle registration number and take photos if possible, but do not approach the fly-tippers. The non-emergency number for the police is 101.

Fly-tipped waste can be reported to the District Council by emailing wastemanagementservices@stalbans.gov.uk or calling 01727 809019. More
information about the ‘duty of care’ to dispose of waste and fly-tipping is available on our website.

Councillor contact:
Cllr Daniel Chichester-Miles, Portfolio Holder for Environment for St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819281
Email: cllr.d.chichester-miles@stalbans.gov.uk

Contact for the media:
Amanda Wilkinson,
Senior Communications Officer
St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819317
E-mail: amanda.wilkinson@stalbans.gov.uk
www.stalbans.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StAlbansCouncil

Photo:
M1 motorway bridge at Bedmond Lane