A Chipping Sodbury man has been ordered to pay £810.59 in fines and costs, and been given 160 hours of community service, after pleading guilty in court to committing waste related offences in South Gloucestershire.
Jake Thomas, 22, of Woodmans Close, Chipping Sodbury, was prosecuted by our environmental protection team after two separate loads of fly-tipped waste were discovered between March and May – one in Hoovers Lane, near Iron Acton, and the other in a lane in Dodington, near Old Sodbury.
Evidence was found at the fly-tips referring to addresses in Cromhall and Yate, South Gloucestershire. Subsequent enquiries by council officers revealed the waste had been removed by Thomas as a business transaction.
Thomas was interviewed by council officers and admitted to carrying out the two fly-tips. He also admitted he did not hold a waste carriers licence.
The case was heard at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 5 December, where Thomas pleaded guilty to the fly-tipping and having no registered waste carriers licence.
He was given a 160-hour community order by the court, to be completed within a period of 12 months. The Magistrate specifically indicated that if possible this should involve clearing up other people’s rubbish. He was also ordered to pay £85 Victim Surcharge and costs of £725.59.
South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Tourism Cllr Paul Hughes said: “Fly-tipping is an issue that negatively affects our communities and local environment and this activity will not be tolerated in South Gloucestershire. This particular case saw the offender disregarding the law to deliberately dump waste in two rural locations.
“There is no excuse for this type of behaviour. Waste crime puts the environment at risk and anyone found to be fly-tipping in South Gloucestershire will be prosecuted. Residents also have a duty of care to ensure that they only give their waste to registered waste carriers.”
Rather than directly issuing fly-tipping Fixed Penalty Notices, which is one tool that can be used by local authorities in some circumstances to combat fly-tipping, South Gloucestershire Council adopts a different approach to tackle the problem. Our envirocrime team co-ordinates education and enforcement action, gathering evidence to pursue offenders through the courts.
Statistics show that anyone fly-tipping in South Gloucestershire is five times more likely to be successfully prosecuted than anywhere else in the country and our award winning envirocrime team have a 100 per cent record of securing successful prosecutions for this type of offence.
Contractors should ensure that they hold a Registered Waste Carriers Licence and they comply with the Waste Transfer Note requirements.
Residents and businesses are advised to only give their rubbish to an Environment Agency registered waste carrier.
You can carry out these simple steps to make sure your waste is disposed of legally:
- Ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken. Legitimate firms will be happy to provide this information. Do not be tempted to use people offering cheap waste clearance on sites such as Facebook and Gumtree unless you have confirmed that they are registered with the Environment Agency.
- Check whether the waste carrier is registered by calling the Environment Agency on 08708 506506 or by checking on their website.
- Ask for a registered trading address and contact telephone number for the trader and get a receipt.
Residents who see illegal fly-tipping are encouraged to report it by using our web form at www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping or emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or contacting the Street Care helpdesk on 01454 868000.
