A County Durham man has been ordered to pay more than £400 after dumping a fridge freezer in a back lane behind his home.
After receiving a complaint of fly-tipping in Woodstone Village last September, a Durham County Council neighbourhood warden found the item in the rear lane of Finchale Terrace.
The complaint alleged that it had been placed there by someone living on the street, but
no one answered the door at the property in question when the warden called.
Two days later, the warden spoke to Jamie Wilden, of Finchale Terrace, who explained
that he had dumped the fridge freezer in the back lane as there was no room in his yard.
He assured the warden it would be removed on his return from work.
However, it was still present on a further two visits to the street. This resulted in it being
removed by the council and 31-year-old Wilden was issued with a fixed penalty notice
(FPN) for failing to remove the waste.
Despite confirming that the fixed penalty notice had been received and accepting he had
been given a number of opportunities to remove the item, Wilden did not pay the FPN.
At Peterlee Magistrates Court, he was fined £180 and ordered to pay a contribution
towards costs of £200 as well as a £32 victim surcharge, totalling £412.
Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “There is no
excuse for fly-tipping in County Durham. With a number of household waste recycling
centres across the county, as well as the availability of bulky waste collections, it is
everyone’s duty to make sure waste is correctly disposed of.
“We hope this case serves as a reminder to everyone of how seriously we take fly-tipping.
We are determined to work with our communities to tackle the issue and identify anyone
responsible.”