Fly tippers prosecuted

Tackling fly tipping is an ongoing challenge for Cheshire West and Chester Council, who have successfully prosecuted three individuals this week.

Thomas Pickup of Pelton Close, Northwich was found guilty of tipping building waste underneath the bridge on Bridge Street, Northwich.  Pickup was captured on CCTV on six occasions over a period of four days in May 2019 using a wheelbarrow to transport waste to the location from his previous home address of Manchester Road, Northwich and returning with an empty wheelbarrow. 

Council officers attended the site on two separate occasions and found rubble, bricks, bin bags and pieces of wood and bags of cement.  

At the court hearing, Pickup, who said he was very sorry for his actions, was fined £500 while costs of £1,070 were awarded against him.

Emma Mc Burney from Hargrave Drive, Ellesmere Port was fined £250 plus costs of £532 for illegally depositing household waste in an alleyway.

Waste shouldn’t be left in alleyways at any time and will be dealt with as fly tipping.  Any excess household waste that cannot be recycled can be taken to one of the household recycling centres and disposed of free of charge.  Alternatively, the Council provides a bulky waste collection, and details are on its website.

Michael Taylor of Robin Close, Ellesmere Port was fined £120 plus costs of £282. Taylor arranged for waste to be removed by someone using Facebook as he didn’t have a car to take it to the household waste recycling centre. The individual paid to carry out the removal wasn’t licensed, and Taylor hadn’t checked if a licence was held. The Magistrate said this was a failure in his duty of care and was in essence negligent.

Householders have a duty of care to ensure that all household waste is properly disposed of.  If you pay someone to take away your waste always check that they have a valid Waste Carriers Licence, by contacting the Environment Agency directly (Tel: 08708 506 506) and asking for a waste carrier validation check or check online yourself on the Environment Agency website.

As well as the environmental impact it costs the Council around £600,000 a year to clear litter and fly-tipped waste.

Councillor Karen Shore, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport said: “Fly tipping has an effect on everyone, it is a blight on communities and spoils the look of our neighbourhoods. It is damaging to our environment, it can present a hazard to road users and wildlife and  it costs money to clear up, it’s also an eye sore that shouldn’t be happening.  We all have a duty to ensure our waste is disposed of properly and we will seek to prosecute all fly tippers. If you are allowing a third party to remove your waste, please ensure you check that they carry a Waste Carriers licence.

“Please help us tackle this problem and report inconsiderate fly tippers, who still think they can dispose of rubbish wherever they want causing problems for residents and adding unnecessary pressure on Council services.”

Reporting fly tipping is now much easier and quicker with the introduction of a new Cheshire West and Chester Council app.

All it involves is just four simple steps: Pinpoint the location on a map, take a photo of the fly tip, select a category and provide more information, then submit. The report is then sent directly to the appropriate service to be dealt with.

The app also has a built in ‘Report it log’, which allows residents to check the status of each of their reports.