A fly tipper from Elland is counting the cost for his actions after he was prosecuted for dumping bags of waste in the town.
Ainsley Stevenson, 20, pleaded guilty to fly tipping offences after dumping four bags of waste on land off Plains Lane in Elland. He was fined a total of £427, plus costs of £80 and a £22 victim surcharge – a total of £554.
The fly tipping was reported to the council by a member of the public and Environmental Health officers investigated the reports.
Staff from the Council’s Safer, Cleaner, Greener team then cleared the waste and, in doing so, found a number of documents linking the waste to Stevenson. This information was passed on to the Environmental Health team who started prosecution proceedings.
Calderdale Council’s assistant director (Neighbourhoods) Andrew Pitts, said: “This is a great example of cross-council working with officers in different teams working together to ensure that this case had a positive outcome. Sifting through fly-tipped waste for evidence may not be a pleasant job but it was vital in this prosecution.
“The individual in this case is paying the price for taking a chance and choosing to fly tip rather than disposing of waste in the proper way.
“The level of fines involved should act as a deterrent for others who are thinking of fly tipping – the council will not hesitate to find and prosecute those responsible.”
The council is pursuing a number of other prosecutions for fly tipping offences.
It says in all cases, having as much information as possible helps to bring successful prosecutions, so it is urging people to come forward if they witness any fly-tipping.
Ideally, the following details are required:
* The day, date, time and location of the fly-tipping
* A description of the people involved
* What was fly-tipped and how much
* Details of any vehicle involved, including registration number, colour, make and model
You can report fly-tipping through the online form at www.calderdale.gov.uk or by calling confidentially on 01422 288001.
