Resident hit with fly-tipping fine after failure to make sure rubbish was disposed of correctly

A Leeds resident has been hit with a large fly-tipping fine after approximately 750kg of waste was illegally dumped.

Mr Peter Gilroy of King Lane, Moortown, pleaded guilty at Leeds Magistrates Court for one offence in relation to the Environmental Protection Act 1990, of not ensuring that the person which he alleged had been paid to remove the rubbish was fully authorised to do so. Mr Gilroy was subsequently fined in total £4,289, which also included costs and a victim surcharge, after he was unable to provide details of the person other than a nickname that he said was asked to dispose of the waste.

This successful prosecution follows an investigation by Leeds City Council’s environmental action team after a sizeable amount of waste was discovered in a wooded area of Woodhouse Ridge. The council uses a wide range of tools including the use of CCTV to tackle and gather evidence against those responsible for the fly-tipping and will always take action against perpetrators.

Councillor Lucinda Yeadon, Leeds City Council’s executive member for the environment and sustainability, said:

“The mess that fly-tipping creates in our communities is completely unacceptable, and it is for this reason that we will always take action against anyone who is found to be responsible in any way for such an act taking place.

“I would urge anyone who is thinking of asking or paying someone to remove rubbish or waste on their behalf to ensure those given the task are fully authorised to do so. If not, and no contact details are made available of those involved, it is you as the broker that may face prosecution if a subsequent fly-tipping offence has been found to take place with the rubbish you asked to be taken away.”

Notes to editors:

Under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 regarding the Duty of care as respects waste, it states:

(1) it shall be the duty of any person who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste or, as a broker, has control of such waste, to take all such measures applicable to him in that capacity as are reasonable in the circumstances—

(a) to prevent any contravention by any other person of section 33 above;

(b) to prevent the escape of the waste from his control or that of any other person; and

(c) on the transfer of the waste, to secure—

(i) that the transfer is only to an authorised person or to a person for authorised transport purposes; and

(ii)that there is transferred such a written description of the waste as will enable other persons to avoid a contravention of that section or regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations, or a contravention of a condition of an environmental permit, and to comply with the duty under this subsection as respects the escape of waste.