A SCRAP dealer was given a sentence of 160 hours community punishment by Dewsbury magistrates for offences involving waste and pollution.

Bashir Hussain, 52, of Headfield Road, Dewsbury, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing, when the magistrates asked for a pre-sentence report.

He was also ordered to pay full costs of £1,110.75 to the Environment Agency, which brought the case.

Ben Reid, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, had told the court that Hussain ran a business called Batley Scrap and kept scrap cars on a site at David Lane, Batley Carr, Dewsbury.

Environment Agency officers had visited the site in late 2004, explained the waste regulations governing scrap cars and had written to Hussain explaining the need to apply for a waste management licence.

The requirement was imposed by the introduction of the End of Life Vehicle Regulations (ELV) 2003.

In January 2005 they had not received an application.

They visited the site and examined the scrap vehicles.

They were all found to be `non de-polluted', that is, containing batteries, oil, brake fluid, coolant, power steering fluid or screenwash.

There were scrap car parts spread over the site, very heavy oil contamination across the site and oil leaking from engines.

Oily water was also seen running off the site.

The court was told non- de-polluted vehicles and parts posed a potential risk of pollution, such as contamination of the ground, ground-water or surface water.

Any oil that percolated through might have a long-lasting impact on the environment and wildlife.

This was particularly of concern in the case due to the close proximity of Batley Beck, metres away from the waste with no wall or fence between.

In mitigation it was said that Hussain had been on the site for 16 years without problems.

He was illiterate and had problems understanding English.

Neil Rich of the Environment Agency said: "Vehicle dismantling produces a lot of polluting materials and if these are not dealt with properly the potential for environmental damage is enormous.

"It's important for the legitimate vehicle dismantling trade that unlicensed, polluting operators such as this one are brought into line."