First fine issued under new fly-tipping powers

A driver from Leeds has been fined £400 for fly-tipping after illegally dumping wooden pallets on the highway in Bradford.
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The man, driver of a van who’s passenger was spotted dumping the pallets on CCTV, was identified through the registration plate on his van and admitted in interview that he was responsible.

This is the first Fixed Penalty Notice given out by Bradford City Council under new laws announced in May which allow it more enforcement power.

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“We hope that these new powers which enable us to hand out Fixed Penalty Notices rather than taking the matter to court, will help us to better tackle small-scale fly-tipping,” said Coun Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s executive member for environment, sport and culture.

“It is another weapon in our arsenal in combatting this problem which is a blight to the district and can be dangerous such as in this situation where rubbish is dumped on a highway.”

The new powers, announced by Environment Minister Rory Stewart in May, mean councils can give out on-the-spot fines of up to £400 to anyone caught illegally dumping waste.

On this occasion, a passenger in a silver Renault Traffic Van was seen on Bradford’s CCTV cameras dumping nine wooden pallets on the highway in the Bowling and Barkerend area. In interview, the driver of the van admitted full responsibility but didn’t give details of the passenger involved.

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Environment Minister Rory Stewart, who announced the new powers earlier this year, said the fixed penalty notices, as well as acting as a deterrent, will save local authorities time and money as they will not be forced to prosecute through the court.