Two men have been prosecuted and fined a combined total of almost £1700 by Bristol Magistrates Court for illegally dumping furniture, a mattress and black bags full of rubbish in Patchway during the spring of 2021.
Azhar Beelontally (22) of Josephine Avenue, Tadworth, Surrey, and Rayhan Chowdhury (21) of Coote Road, Dagenham, London, pleaded guilting to fly-tipping following the discovery of the waste at Station Road. Beelontally was fined £1,015, while Chowdhury was ordered to pay £677, and both must cover the additional £403 in costs.
The waste was cleared by South Gloucestershire Council and evidence was found relating to a nearby address in Brookfield Road, previously linked to the pair. Both men admitted fly-tipping the black bags after being formally interviewed by the council’s Envirocrime team during the investigation.
The site of the fly-tip was found to be half a mile from the address at Brookfield Road and within half a mile of Little Stoke Sort It recycling centre. Beelontally stated that he knew he should have recycled the waste and that he could have taken it to the local Sort It Centre.
Cabinet Member for Communities and Local Place, Cllr Rachael Hunt said: “I hope this case serves as a deterrent to anyone who considers dumping their waste illegally. This pair could have driven a short distance to their local Sort It recycling centre and disposed of their waste lawfully, but instead chose to dump it by the side of the road without consideration to the hazard it could cause others.
“We have a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping here in South Gloucestershire and we have a 100% success rate for securing convictions for this type of offence. Anyone who dumps waste illegally here is five times more likely to be prosecuted than anywhere else in the country. Perpetrators can be certain that we will be tireless in our efforts to track them down and ensure justice is served.”
Unwanted goods and household or garden waste can all be disposed of at no cost via the council’s Sort IT! * Centres https://beta.southglos.gov.uk/recycling-centres
Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by contacting our StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or by visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping
