A COMPANY owner has been ordered to pay £1,300 in fines and costs to Malvern Hills District Council after waste he was responsible for ended up being dumped on the side of a road.
Michael Steven Burford, 33, of Austin Road in Bromsgrove, pleaded guilty to breaching his duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 when he appeared at Worcester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, April 6.
He was fined £300 and told to pay £1,000 towards the costs of Malvern Hills District Council.
The district council decided to prosecute after being called to investigate a fly-tip on land between Laylocks Garden Centre and the junction of Otherton Lane and Bromyard Road in Cotheridge, on October 21 last year.
The amount of waste was estimated to be enough to fill a small tipper lorry and contained items including broken furniture, some bits of carpet, an office chair and some paperwork.
Investigations led to Mr Burford and his company Home and Gardens 4 U Limited based in Austin Road.
An employee confirmed they had carried out a house clearance at an address in Worcester and had passed the waste on to another contractor to dispose of but was unable to provide details.
Coun Bronwen Behan, portfolio holder for environment on Malvern Hills District Council, said: “Fly-tipping is not a harmless crime.
“It costs the taxpayer and landowners money to deal with, inconveniences the public and in some cases can be dangerous.
“Where we find evidence we will always prosecute.
“We can all play our part in helping to combat fly-tipping by ensuring we use properly licensed traders to dispose of our waste, take it to the household recycling centre ourselves or use our convenient bulky waste collection service.”
By law companies that produce, import, keep, store, transports, treats or disposes of waste must take all reasonable steps to ensure it is dealt with properly.
Bulky waste collections can now be booked online by visiting www.malvernhills.gov.uk/bulky-waste.
Fly-tipping can also be reported online by visiting www.malvernhills.gov.uk/report-it.
