Court sends fly-tipper £800 bill (From Witney Gazette)

Court sends fly-tipper £800 bill

3:00pm Tuesday 29th January 2008 in Witney By David Horne

A MAN guilty of fly-tipping has come out of court with a bill of more than £800.

Standlake resident Andrew Wilson dumped large quantities of rubble and kitchen building waste by the side of the main A415 road, just outside his village.

He pleaded guilty at Witney magistrates court on Monday to the offence brought under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and to two further offences of transporting waste without a proper transfer licence.

Wilson, of The Furlongs, Standlake, was fined £600, and ordered to pay £200 costs plus a £15 surcharge to cover the costs of removal.

The prosecution is the first successful one against a fly-tipper brought by West Oxfordshire District Council's new environmental enforcement team. It was launched last year to tackle all aspects of environmental crime.

David Harvey, cabinet member for the environment, said: "Fly-tipping is ugly, unnecessary, and unacceptable, and will not be tolerated.

"I am delighted the magistrates agreed with our case that fly-tippers are anti-social environmental criminals, and that an example should be made of them to deter others who might be tempted to copy them.

"We will take the strongest action against anyone who flouts the law and deliberately despoils our beautiful countryside in this way."

Last year, the council had to clear 63 tonnes of fly-tipped waste, costing £55,000 of local taxpayers' money.

The enforcement team is investigating every report of fly-tipping. In the year 2006-7, there were reports of 671 incidents. From April to December 2007, the number was 436, with four months of the council year yet to run.

Maximum sentences under the act for fly-tipping are fines up to £50,000, or five years in prison.

A spokesman for the council said that information sharing with the police and other local councils is helping cut incidents and bring offenders to court.

Anyone who wants to report incidents can telephone the council, on 01993 861060 or fill in a online form, at: westoxon.gov.uk/reportit