A Mangotsfield man has been ordered to pay a total of £2,011 in fines and costs after being prosecuted by South Gloucestershire Council for fly-tipping and waste offences.
Jason Edgecombe, 41, of Northcote Road in Mangotsfield was found guilty of fly-tipping waste at the rear of Northcote Road along with not having a Registered Waste Carrier licence and no Waste Transfer Notes when the case was heard at Bristol Magistrates Court on 15 August.
He was fined £484 and was ordered to pay a £48 Victims surcharge and £1,479 in costs, totaling £2,011.
During the investigation, the council’s environmental enforcement officers discovered that during or before the first Covid-19 lockdown period in March 2020, Edgecombe advertised a waste collection service on social media under the names of ‘Westcoast Removals’ and ‘Westcoast Waste Removal’. Edgecombe subsequently collected controlled waste for payment from many locations without the correct licence or paperwork. Some of this collected waste was then found deposited in a communal area at the rear of Northcote Road, Mangotsfield.
During interview Edgecombe denied fly-tipping claiming he was assisting a friend who must have fly-tipped the waste. However the magistrate said he had no doubt it was Edgecombe who communicated with customers and received payment from them and was collecting waste without the appropriate licence and paperwork.
Councillor Rachael Hunt, cabinet member responsible for environmental enforcement at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “This case saw waste collected without the correct legal paperwork from across South Gloucestershire and then fly-tipped without any consideration of the impact it would have on residents or the environment.
“Our zero-tolerance approach means that anyone who fly-tips in South Gloucestershire is five times more likely to be prosecuted than anywhere else in the country. Our award-winning environmental enforcement team has a 100 per cent record of securing successful prosecutions for this type of offence and if you fail in your duty of care and allow rubbish to be fly-tipped here, you can expect to be caught and brought before the courts.
“We all have a responsibility to dispose of our waste in a responsible and lawful manner. If you hire a company to dispose of your waste, always ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken. Failing to carry out these simple checks could mean you are found liable and face a considerable fine if the waste is illegally deposited.”
Unwanted goods and household or garden waste can all be disposed of at no cost via the council’s Sort It recycling centres www.southglos.gov.uk/sortitcentres
Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by contacting the council’s StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping
