Two women have between them been ordered to pay more than £1,000 for environmental crimes in Colchester.

Half a tonne of Calli Sadler’s domestic waste, including furniture and bags of rubbish, were dumped at the entrance to a bridleway off Furneaux Lane, Finginrghoe, last May.

Sadler, of Ferdinand Walk, Colchester, admitted during a court hearing that she had not checked whether the person she asked to dispose of the rubbish had a Waste Carrier’s Licence.

The fly-tip was found by a dog walker and Colchester Borough Council’s zone warden team found packaging and a letter during the clear-up which linked it to Sadler.

Sadler, 35, was given a year-long conditional discharge and ordered to pay £495 in fines and costs at Colchester Magistrates’ Court after the council prosecution.

In a separate case, also brought by the borough council, Kirsty Bloomfield was taken to court after she failed to pay a fine issued for dropping a cigarette butt while driving along Via Urbis Romanae in north Colchester.

Bloomfield, of Ratcliffe Court, did not attend the court hearing but magistrates ordered her to pay a £200 fine and charges and costs of £420 for the offence.

Tim Young, Colchester borough councillor for community safety, said: “The council’s community zone teams do a superb job helping monitor and maintain our neighbourhoods but fly-tipping and littering are anti-social and represent a needless drain on our resources.

“Not only do they visually blight our neighbourhoods, they can endanger wildlife and harm human health too.

“Our work is made more effective by residents being vigilant to incidents like this fly-tipping case and I urge anyone to report it to the council.

“If you are planning to dispose of household waste, use a reputable company with the correct licenses, and always dispose of cigarette ends or other litter responsibly, whether you’re on Colchester’s streets and open spaces or driving on the borough’s roads.”