A Bristol man has been ordered to pay a total of £1,952 in fines and costs after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted him for waste offences following the discovery of a fly-tip.
Jae Grier, 24, of Snowberry Walk in St George, Bristol, failed to appear at Bristol Magistrates Court when summonsed in May 2023 but after a warrant was issued for his arrest and following encouragement from South Gloucestershire Council’s environmental enforcement team, he handed himself into the courts on Monday 18 March. He was found guilty of waste duty of care offences and handed a £461 fine, ordered to pay £891 in costs and £600 in compensation, making a total of £1,952.
The court heard that on 27 July 2022 South Gloucestershire Council received a report of a fly-tip at Rock Road in Wick, South Gloucestershire. Council operatives cleared away the fly-tip, which consisted of commercial fridges and building waste. Photos were taken of the fly-tip and paperwork relating to Jae Grier’s home address and the Speedwell Convenience Store on Ventnor Road in Speedwell, Bristol were found amongst the waste.
On Thursday 4 August 2022 the council’s environmental enforcement officers spoke with Grier outside his home address. He was shown the photographs of the waste and documentation found at the Rock Road fly-tip and he identified them as coming from the Speedwell Convenience Store that he owned. He stated that he’d paid to have the waste removed during store refurbishment.
Grier’s duty of care as a business, including knowing the details of who had removed your waste, was explained to him. He stated it had been a casual arrangement, but he had a receipt that should provide the necessary details.
On Thursday 26 January 2023 officers interviewed Grier under caution at the council’s offices in Kingswood. He produced a receipt that was in a torn and crumpled state with little detail on it. He again identified that the waste at the Rock Road fly-tip as his and said he had paid £350 for its removal. He was unable to state when this had occurred as he had several loads of waste removed by different people and had no detailed records of these transactions.
Grier explained the waste in the photos had been removed by people who ‘cold called’ at the store when he was there. He was unable to provide any further details, descriptions, vehicle information or telephone numbers. He said he believed the waste would have been removed sometime during 2022.
Grier was told that he would be reported for summons for the offences.
Robert Evely, Environmental Enforcement team leader at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “We’re pleased to see this case finally come to a conclusion after the defendant previously failed to appear in court. Our officers were diligent in pursuing the offender which eventually led to him handing himself into the court where he received this conviction.
“We must all take responsibility for disposing of our waste lawfully. If you employ a third party to take away your waste, always ensure you ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where it is being taken, or you could be found liable and face prosecution.”
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 https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers
- Ask for a registered trading address and contact telephone number for the trader and get a receipt.
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
