A Bristol man has been ordered to pay a total of £1,298 in fines and costs after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted him for waste offences following the discovery of a fly-tip on a residential street.
Jack Roberts, 21, of Lodge Causeway in Bristol, appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court on Monday 29 April. He pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and was handed a £666 fine, ordered to pay £366 in costs and a £266 victim surcharge, making a total of £1,298.
The court heard that on 24 September 2023 South Gloucestershire Council received a report of a fly-tip in a hedgerow on Victoria Road, Warmley, South Gloucestershire. Council operatives cleared away the fly-tip, which consisted of a large blue bag full of empty commercial nitrous oxide catering containers.
The offence was captured on a resident’s home CCTV, with two offenders using a Volkswagen Transporter van to commit the offence. The vehicle’s registration was visible in the footage and the council’s environmental enforcement officers contacted the company that own the van, who confirmed that employee Jack Roberts was the permitted driver on the day of the offence.
On 8 January 2024, Roberts attended the council’s Yate offices for a voluntary interview. During the interview he was shown video footage of the waste being dumped at Victoria Road. Roberts acknowledged that he was the driver of the van in the video footage, and that he was responsible for fly-tipping the waste.
Roberts stated the waste had come from his girlfriend’s parents’ address nearby following a house party that the parents were not aware of. As they were due back imminently, he panicked and dumped the waste nearby in Victoria Road, with the assistance of an unnamed person. Roberts fully accepted responsibility for the offence of fly-tipping, stating it was a spur of the moment act for which he is remorseful. The interview concluded and Roberts was reported for summons.
Robert Evely, Environmental Enforcement team leader at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “This prosecution will hopefully act as a deterrent to anyone who fails in their duty of care for waste disposal. We all have a responsibility to ensure that our waste is disposed of in a responsible and lawful manner.
“South Gloucestershire Council always pursues fly-tip related prosecutions through the courts and our award-winning environmental enforcement team has a 100 per cent record of securing successful prosecutions for this type of offence.”
Residents and businesses are advised to only give their rubbish to an Environment Agency registered waste carrier.
Household waste can be taken to the council’s Sort It recycling centres where it can be disposed of at no cost 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
