A man who discarded waste along country lanes - including food rubbish and soiled nappies - has been ordered to pay £3,600 after admitting fly-tipping.
Tom O’Connor. 27, of Fieldfare Close, Stowmarket, admitted discarding waste along lanes – including food rubbish and soiled nappies – in Walsham-le-Willows and Hemingstone.
Mr O’Connor attended Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on July 18 and was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £2,500 investigation and legal costs, and £100 victim surcharge.
The first incident took place in June last year when cardboard waste was discarded in a lay-by in Ixworth Road, Walsham-le-Willows.
Using items found in the waste, council officers traced it to an Ipswich resident – who explained she had used Mr O’Connor’s services as a waste collector after seeing an advertisement on Facebook.
The second incident happened in October last year when a large number of black bin liners and boxes of household rubbish, including food waste and soiled nappies, were found strewn along the roads and verges of Sandy Lane, Rectory Road and Bulls Road in Hemingstone.
Officers traced items to a resident in Stoke Ash, who had also paid Mr O’Connor to take away waste.
Mr O’Connor was arrested in January by police on behalf of Mid Suffolk District Council and when interviewed under caution by council officers, he admitted taking waste from both properties and dumping it.
On neither occasion did Mr O’Connor give the householder a waste transfer note to show he had taken the waste.
He also admitted he was not a registered waste carrier, authorising him to transport waste.
David Burn, Mid Suffolk District Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “Fly-tipping not only blights our countryside and communities, it also costs the taxpayer significant sums to clear it up.
“I hope this prosecution serves as a reminder that the council takes incidents of fly-tipping extremely seriously and will take the firmest course of action, up to and including prosecution of offenders.
“This ruling also serves as a reminder to residents and businesses that they have a duty of care in ensuring their waste is disposed of properly and legally.
“Simply paying a third party such as ‘man-with-a-van’ to get rid of it for you without asking for proof they are registered to carry waste is not good enough.”
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