Havant resident slapped with £400 fine for fly-tipping after claiming he paid man to get rid of rubbish
AN investigation into a fly-tip in Rowlands Castle has led to a £400 fine for a resident who claimed he paid a man to dispose of the waste.
The tip containing garden waste and household rubbish was found in Woodhouse Lane, an unlit rural road, on October 8.
East Hampshire District Council’s investigation led environmental enforcement officers to a resident in Havant who claimed they had paid £80 to a man who knocked on their door and offered to take it away.
But they did not get a receipt, a waste transfer or check the person had a waste carrier’s licence. It meant they were not able identify the man in any way.
The resident was then slapped a £400 fixed penalty notice for failing to comply with the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Councillor Ingrid Thomas, portfolio holder for neighbourhood quality, said: ‘Our enforcement officers work hard to examine fly-tips and follow the evidence trail to find the culprits.
‘This is another result of their excellent work and is also a reminder that everyone needs to take waste seriously.
‘If you don’t check your paperwork properly when employing someone to take your waste away it could cost you more later on if it ends up in a fly-tip.
‘Fly-tipping is a blight on our environment and a danger to wildlife, motorists and visitors to our countryside. We all have our part to play protecting our environment.’
Last year The News reported that fly-tippers had cost taxpayers in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas more than £1.2m over five years in clean-up costs.
And this week we reported that litter-pickers in Leigh Park were left frustrated after they collected so much rubbish that Havant Borough Council’s contractor Norse did not collect it for more than a week – with the council saying that the job had been done so thoroughly that the collectors underestimated how big a van they would need.