Driver fined for dumping household waste near tip

Bea SwallowWest of England
Man caught flytipping in Wiltshire twice pays £2,000

A fly-tipper has been fined £2,000 for illegally dumping waste less than two miles from the nearest household recycling centre.

Wiltshire Council's environmental enforcement officers captured the resident on CCTV in January, disposing of the waste around Tidworth and the Stonehenge area.

The captured footage clearly showed the person's face, vehicle registration, and the disposal of multiple items, including black bags of household waste and chairs.

Councillor Martin Smith said: "Choosing instead to dump waste is irresponsible, damages our environment, and leaves others to deal with the consequences".

News imageWiltshire Council A haul of rubbish dumped at the bottom of a slope in a wooded area, There are wicker chairs with metal arms, a foldable white table and multiple black bin bags of household rubbish.Wiltshire Council
The waste was dumped less than two miles (3.2km) from the nearest household recycling centre

The council has significantly increased its covert and overt CCTV capability across the county to "deter, detect and take enforcement action" against fly-tipping.

Using this footage, officers were soon able to link a second fly-tip to the same person, leading to enforcement action.

The person involved has since paid the two £1,000 fixed penalty notices(FPN) in full. As FPNs are not court convictions, they cannot be named.

The exact locations of both the fly-tips and the camera placements are also kept secret, the council added.

News imageWiltshire Council A composite image showing two side-by-side images of the perpetrator dragging bags of rubbish and a stack of chairs out of his black car beside a countryside road. His face has been concealed with a black circle and the time of day is captured on the CCTV timestamp - showing 16:43.Wiltshire Council
The incident was captured in January as part of a proactive surveillance operation

Smith, cabinet member for highways, said fly-tipping is "completely unacceptable".

"We will not hesitate to take action against those who blight our communities by disposing of waste illegally," he added.

"In this case, our enhanced camera capability captured clear evidence of the offender dumping multiple items - just minutes from a household recycling centre - making their actions both irresponsible and entirely avoidable.

"There are plenty of simple, legal ways to dispose of household waste - including using regular kerbside collections or visiting a household recycling centre."

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