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Illegally dumping one black sack of waste costs Wycombe man £2,400

| April 5, 2016

On Wednesday 30th March 2016 a 24 year old man of Bank Street, High Wycombe pleaded guilty at Wycombe Magistrates Court to an offence of dumping waste illegally.

The court heard that on Thursday 5th November 2015 investigators from the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire examined household type waste at the roadside on Andrew Hill Lane, near Beaconsfield. The dumped waste had been reported by a member of the public.

The investigators photographed and examined the waste for evidence of origin. Within the dumped waste details were found that led them to speak to the 24 year old man. When cleared by the authorities, the waste approximated to the contents of one black waste sack.

When interviewed at a police station the man admitted dumping the waste which he had accumulated as loose items in the passenger foot well of the van he used for work.

He said that he had been called by phone to give his boss a lift in the van and had to clean the waste out in order to do that. He expressed remorse for his actions which he freely admitted had been wrong.

The Magistrates fined the man £1,600 and ordered him to pay clean-up and prosecution costs of £706. A victim surcharge of £120 was also levied, making a total to pay of £2,426.

Mike Smith, Chairman of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: ‘For the sake of a bag of rubbish, this individual now has a hefty court bill and a criminal record. It’s a salutary lesson and one I hope deters others from similar behaviour.

I am heartened by the fact a member of the public took the time to report this and it just goes to prove how fed up people are with fly-tippers causing unnecessary mess and hazards in our environment.

The message is very clear : fly-tip at your peril. We have a superb enforcement team, a vigilant public and we will not hesitate to prosecute whenever possible.

The case was prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council working on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire.

In October 2003 The Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire launched the ‘Illegal Dumping Costs‘ campaign in October 2003 to combat illegal dumping and waste management offences in Buckinghamshire. So far the Partnership has secured 517 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences.

As a result of the ‘Illegal Dumping Costs‘ campaign there has been a halving of reported incidents and a saving of over £1 million for residents. On average there is at least one conviction per week for illegal dumping offences in Buckinghamshire.

Members of the public who find illegally dumped waste can report the waste to the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire by uploading details, including location and photos at www.buckscc.gov.uk/fly.

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