A MAN has been ordered to pay £2,314 in fines and costs after he was found guilty of flytipping waste in Winterbourne.

David Allen, 45, of Tetbury Close in Little Stoke, was prosecuted by South Gloucestershire Council’s environmental protection team. The council had received reports of a large amount of waste being tipped in Trench Lane and was quick to act against the culprit.

Evidence was found amongst the fly tip that related to a public house in Patchway and it was discovered that Allen had been paid £300 to collect the waste which was found at Trench Lane.

CCTV footage from the pub showed Allen loading the waste on to, and leaving in, a vehicle that matched the one seen at Trench Lane by the witness.

Allen was interviewed under caution in November 2017, where he admitted that he had received £300 to collect the waste found at the fly tip. However, he claimed that he had borrowed the lorry from a friend.

Allen admitted to having no Waste Transfer Note or documentation and stated that he believed his lorry owning friend would have had whatever was required. He confirmed that he collected the waste and had control of both the waste and the vehicle, but stated that when he returned the vehicle to the owner the waste was still on it. He claimed that he had paid the owner £150 for use of the vehicle and that the owner offered to get rid of the waste.

There was no direct evidence placing Allen at the scene of the fly tip, however he was charged with alternative offences including not producing a waste transfer note, failing in his duty of care to ensure the person to whom he transferred the waste was authorised and refusing to name his ‘friend.’

Allen pleaded guilty at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on June 20 and was handed a £1,000 fine, along with a £40 victim surcharge and ordered to pay £1,274.41 in costs to the council, making a total of £2,314.41.

Cllr Paul Hughes, cabinet member for communities and tourism, said: “Fly tipping is an issue that negatively affects our communities and local environment and this activity will not be tolerated in South Gloucestershire.

"Waste crime puts the environment at risk and anyone found to be fly tipping will be prosecuted. We have a 100 per cent success rate with our fly tip prosecutions, and every time we have taken a case to court for environmental offences we have been successful.

“Residents and businesses are advised to only give their rubbish to an Environment Agency registered waste carrier. Contractors should ensure that they hold a Registered Waste Carriers Licence and they comply with the Waste Transfer Note requirements.”

Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by using the web form at southglos.gov.uk/flytipping or emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk.