Two men from County Durham have been ordered to pay more than £1,000 each over separate fly-tipping related offences.
Durham County Council has successfully taken legal action following incidents of fly- tipping at an allotment in Langley Park and Bishop Auckland Rugby Club.
The first case followed a large amount of household waste, including a tub chair, broken
furniture and other pieces of broken timber being dumped at the Langley Park allotment on
17 March this year.
CCTV cameras were in place at the site, with footage showing the waste being dumped
from a van.
Checks identified the owner of the van as David King, of Davis Crescent in Langley Park.
The 37-year-old pleaded guilty to fly-tipping at Peterlee Magistrates Court. In mitigation, he
told magistrates that he thought the land was owned by a friend and that he had
permission to use the land to deposit waste. However, he admitted that he should have
taken further steps to check this.
King was given credit for his early guilty plea. Magistrates fined him £200 and ordered him
to pay £816.40 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge, totalling £1,050.40.
Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “Fly-tipping
is taken very seriously in County Durham. We will always take action against the illegal
dumping of waste to help reduce environmental damage.
“Hopefully, this case in particular also serves as a reminder to everyone that their waste is
their responsibility. There are many ways of disposing of waste correctly across the county
– whether that be household waste recycling centres or booking a bulky waste collection.
There is no excuse for fly-tipping and we will continue to support our communities in
tackling it.”
Meanwhile, in a separate case at Peterlee Magistrates, Nathan Robinson, of Bishop
Auckland, was found guilty of failing to assist with an investigation into a fly-tip at the
entrance to the town’s rugby club.
Wardens found several bags of household waste at the site in November last year and
evidence found in the bags linked the waste to Robinson, of Surtees Street.
A council tax check confirmed the defendant lived at that address but the 22-year-old
failed to respond to a letter and failed to attend an interview as part of the investigation.
As Robinson did not attend court, the case was heard in his absence. He was fined £660
and ordered to pay costs of £338.20 as well as a £66 victim surcharge, totalling £1,064.
For more information on, and to report fly-tipping, visit www.durham.gov.uk/flytipping
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