Two fined for flytip offences
Residents of are being urged to come forward and report fly-tipping following the prosecution of two residents for not co-operating with Blaby District Council’s investigations.
Under section 108 of the Environment Act 1995, a person is required to provide information relating to a fly-tip investigation. It is an offence under section 110 of the act to fail to comply with this requirement.
As a result of these powers, two people under investigation for fly-tipping rubbish in the district were ordered to pay fines and costs each by Leicester Magistrates’ Court after failing to provide information about the incidents.
Investigations into a fly-tip on Aston Lane, Aston Flamville, revealed that the rubbish contained personal information of a resident in Leicester City. They were invited to attend an interview under caution on three occasions but did not turn up. Two of those interviews were re-arranged to accommodate the person under investigation.
They did not attend Leicester Magistrates’ Court and were found guilty in their absence. A £250 fine was imposed, and they were ordered to pay the Council’s costs of £700.67 plus a £30 victim surcharge.
A second investigation into a flytip that had been witnessed on Rowland Way, Glen Parva, uncovered waste containing the personal information of another resident of Leicester City. They were twice invited to attend an interview under caution but failed to turn up and failed to make any contact with the Council.
In their absence they were fined £150 at Leicester Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay the Council’s costs of £263.84 as well as a £30 victim surcharge.
Councillor Sharon Coe, Portfolio Holder for Health, Wellbeing and Regulatory Services, said: “When we investigate fly-tipping we will not go away if you just ignore us or continually fail to turn up for an interview. No longer can suspected fly-tippers avoid facing consequences for their actions by just pretending nothing has happened.
“Our Environmental Health team pursue any evidence they find when fly-tipped waste has been reported to us. Anyone not complying with us can and will be prosecuted under Section 108 of the Environmental Act, so we urge anyone who witnesses flytipping to report it to us so we can investigate.
Residents are urged to report any fly-tipped waste and can do so by visiting the Flytipping page.