TWO women who were caught fly-tipping rubbish have been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling more than £1,000.

John Howard

TWO women who were caught fly-tipping rubbish have been ordered to pay fines and costs totalling more than £1,000.

The women, who both pleaded guilty to one offence, appeared before Lowestoft Magistrates Court recently for the offences.

Juliette Barrett, 43, of Church Road, Worlingworth, was seen apparently dumping black sacks of rubbish into a watercourse at Tannington near her home on June 23.

The matter was reported to the police who retrieved the sacks, Mid Suffolk District Council was alerted, and evidence found within the bags led to Ms Barrett being interviewed.

She said she had previously dumped them and had gone back to get retrieve the litter because she felt guilty, but was fined £165, costs of £441, and a surcharge of £15.

Lyn Wright, 45, from Halesworth Road, Chediston, near Halesworth, had been charged with depositing black sacks of rubbish on a disused airfield at Metfield.

The site was reported to the council who investigated and found items relating to Mrs Wright. She admitted depositing the items at the scene, which was alleged to have happened between February 8 and April 22, and was fined £200, costs of £300 and a surcharge of £15.

John Matthissen, a Green mid Suffolk district councillor who lives at Great Finborough, near Stowmarket, said: “A lot of waste that is fly-tipped should have been recycled. It risks harming wildlife and some of the things that are dumped pollute the land and watercourses. In the past we have found tins of paint and even chemicals.

“The main thing is that it makes the countryside look unpleasant for everybody. I even found some bottles and cans and household rubbish dumped near my back garden and as I cleared it up I looked for evidence about who had dumped it.

“There was a P45 with a job, name and employer and that at least indicates whose rubbish it was, and officers are investigating this now.”

He added: “Fly-tipping is done where people think no-one can see them doing it, and often you catch them later. Sometimes people cannot be bothered to go to the dump. This is very difficult to understand though, when we have household waste sites in Stowmarket, and in all the main towns.

“And I don't think this is down to mid Suffolk only collecting waste fortnightly. We have made it as easy as we can for people to dispose of rubbish responsibly.”