£630 for fly-tipping furniture in car park

A York woman has been ordered to pay £630 for repeatedly fly-tipping, despite receiving waste disposal advice from City of York Council.

York Magistrates heard on Tuesday (3 December 2019) that Sharn Ogden (aged 27 of Martins Court, York) was seen disposing of a table and chairs in the car park of Martins Court on 29 July 2019.

City of York Council enforcement officers made multiple attempts to contact Ms Ogden, which she failed to respond to. On 13 August 2019, Ms Ogden admitted to leaving the waste and said she would take the items to the Household Waste and Recycling Centre. However when officers returned to Martins Court on 13 October 2019, the items had not been removed.

Since 2016, Ms Ogden has received several home visits from enforcement officers regarding waste issues in the area, six letters advising her how to present her waste correctly and two fly-tipping warnings.

Ms Ogden continued to present her waste unlawfully, has been charged for the removal of items and had now been prosecuted.

She attended court and pleaded guilty to one offence of fly-tipping. She was fined £312 by York Magistrates (3 December 2019) and ordered to pay costs of £286 and a surcharge of £32.

Tom Brittain Assistant Director for Housing and Community Safety at City of York Council, said: “We offer plentiful advice to residents on how to dispose of waste lawfully and safely and, as this and other cases show, we will take action when people fly-tip.

“It is important that rubbish is put out for collection as directed by the council. If you are unsure of your collection days, you can check at www.york.gov.uk/RefuseLookup or by calling us on 01904 551550.

“Residents can also take waste to our household waste recycling centres – see www.york.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling – or arrange for the council to collect it via www.york.gov.uk/BulkyWaste.”

£1,040 costs for jet wash fly tipper from west York

Dumping waste at two service stations’ jet washes has resulted in a van driver being ordered to pay £1,040 by York Magistrates.

On 9 February 2017, Nathan Lofthouse, (aged 28 of Askham Croft, York) used a hand-held jet wash at the Inner Space Station, Hull Road, York, to clean his trailer. Having spent over an hour there, he drove away leaving behind bagged and loose wood and rubble, which took the business over an hour to clear away.

On 12 February 2017, Nathan Lofthouse visited the Co-op Texaco service station, Boroughbridge Road, York in a white Ford Luton van, to use their jet wash because of a spillage of paint in the back. He was seen on CCTV removing tins of paint, buckets and a metal box and put them by the jet wash. Mr Lofthouse spent two hours at the jet wash, during which time he was asked twice to make sure he removed the waste. Upon leaving, Mr Lofthouse left the waste behind.

Mr Lofthouse was interviewed about the two fly tipping offences by council officers in April 2017. He admitted both, claiming he had left the waste at the Inner Space Station by accident, whilst he said his visit to the Co-op Texaco garage was an emergency as he had been distracted by the paint spillage.

Mr Lofthouse was asked to pay a fixed penalty notice however after several reminders, they remained unpaid.

On Tuesday 2 January 2018, Mr Lofthouse attended York Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to both offences. He was sentenced to a total fine of £410 for both offences, costs of £600 and a court surcharge of £30.

In court, Mr Lofthouse claimed that both offences were an oversight by him, that he went back after a few days, and that as everything had been cleared away he’d lost money as some items were valuable.

Cllr Andrew Waller, interim deputy leader and executive member for the environment, said: “Dumping waste on a business’s property for them to bear the cost of cleaning up is unacceptable. That some of the materials were contaminants makes it worse.

“For information on commercial waste go to www.york.gov.uk/waste or the Environment Agency at www.gov.uk/guidance/access-the-public-register-for-environmental-information. To report fly-tipping or illegal waste disposal please contact neo.york.gov.uk .”

Acomb Green Lane trader falls foul of waste laws – fined £670

Waste carriers in York are being urged to ensure they are properly licenced to collect, carry and dispose of waste, following a prosecution today (7 November) of illegal activity.

David Grierson, aged 67 of Green Lane, York, pleaded guilty to two charges of unlicenced handling of commercial waste. York Magistrates Court gave him a 24-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £650.32 prosecution costs and a £20 court surcharge.

Mr Grierson who runs Green Lane Carpets, Acomb was found carrying waste from his business when he was stopped on 10 March as part of a joint operation with North Yorkshire Police and Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs.

This routine enforcement action involved stopping and searching business vehicles to determine whether they were complying with the legal requirements relating to waste carrying and waste transfer.

Mr Grierson failed to produce a copy of authority to transport controlled waste and failed to produce waste information. He was served with two notices requesting to produce the correct licence and documents, failed to do so and was served with a fixed penalty notice that he failed to acknowledge or pay.

Lower Tier waste licences are free and are required by traders carrying their own waste. Traders carrying other peoples waste require Upper Tier licences which cost £250.

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