A Thornbury man has been ordered to pay a total of over £3,400 in fines and costs after being prosecuted for waste related offences following the discovery of a fly-tip at Oldbury Lane, near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire.
Sumit Kumar, 37, of Wild Flower Road in Thornbury was prosecuted by South Gloucestershire Council’s environmental enforcement team after a witness saw a man throwing bags of waste from the boot of a parked car and into a hedgerow near Pool Farm, on Oldbury Lane.
The plastic bags were recovered and were found to contain household waste, including a number of used nappies.
The vehicle’s registration was traced to the address of Mr Kumar who was subsequently interviewed by the Council’s environmental enforcement officers. Kumar admitted that the waste had come from his property, however he denied fly-tipping the waste himself. He explained that he may have mentioned the build-up of household waste at the property to his relatives who were staying at his home at the time and suggested that one of them must have used his car, with his permission, to dispose of the household waste, for which he feels responsible.
Appearing at Bristol Magistrates Court on 24 August, Kumar pleaded guilty to failing in his duty of care for the secure transfer of household waste and was fined £2,577, along with £673.50 in costs and a victim surcharge of £170.
Cabinet Member for Communities Cllr Rachael Hunt said: “There is no excuse for this type of behaviour. Fly-tipping has a negative impact on our communities and local environment, and we all have a responsibility to make sure that our waste is disposed of in the appropriate manner.
“Our zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping in South Gloucestershire means that anyone who fly-tips here is up to 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, so if you fail in your duty of care and allow rubbish to be fly-tipped in South Gloucestershire, you can expect to be caught and brought before the courts.”
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 environmental enforcement team co-ordinates education and enforcement action, gathering evidence to pursue offenders through the courts.
Residents and businesses are advised to only give their rubbish to an Environment Agency registered waste carrier.
Contractors should ensure that they hold a Registered Waste Carriers Licence and they comply with the Waste Transfer Note requirements.
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.
Unwanted goods and household or garden waste can all be disposed of at no cost via the council’s Sort It centres.
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 StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000.
