'Serial' fly-tipper who dumped mounds of rubbish in Alwoodley and Rothwell prosecuted by Leeds Council

An investigation into a huge pile of bagged household waste, tiles and rubble found in a fly-tipping hotspot off Craig Lane in Alwoodley was launched by Leeds City Council’s new serious environmental crime team (SECT). The rubbish belonged to a Garforth resident who had paid £120 to a company called Total Waste and Recycling, which was found to have strong links to Daniel Clayton, 29.

Residents had been paying to have waste removed, unaware it was in fact being fly-tipped. Clayton failed to produce any documents proving he held a waste carriers licence and disposed of his business waste legally, and a search of his social media showed he was actively promoting the company, meanwhile investigators found a link between the business phone number and Clayton.

Clayton, of 43 School Street in Castleford, was given a 39-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, together with 300 hours of unpaid work at Kirklees Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to a series of fly-tipping-related offences, two of which were in Leeds. A Criminal Behaviour Order and forfeiture of Clayton’s vehicle was also ordered.

He pleaded guilty to the following offences during a hearing at Kirklees Magistrates Court:

Section 33 – unlawful deposit (fly-tipping) on or before 15.11.2021

Section 34 – failure to comply with waste Duty of Care to take all reasonable measures to prevent fly-tipping between 26.1.20 and 26.1.22

Section 1 – Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 failure to have a Waste Carriers Licence on or before 15.11.21

During the council’s investigation, officers were contacted by Wakefield Council, who were investigating fly-tipping of household waste taken from the Wakefield area and illegally dumped at the Leeds 4x4 Centre in Rothwell. This waste had been taken by a tipper type vehicle owned by Clayton and fly-tipped on or around January 27, 2022. The discovery was made as part of an ongoing investigation after household waste was found dumped on Oakenshaw Lane in Wakefield on October 29, 2021, which was also removed in a vehicle Clayton owned. He also pleaded guilty to these two offences.

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and housing, said: “This is another great prosecution by the council’s serious environmental crime team and serves as a reminder that we will not tolerate fly-tipping of any kind. We are grateful to our colleagues in neighbouring Wakefield who we worked closely with on this case. I hope this case shows that the council is prepared to use the full force of the law against criminals fly-tipping and I would urge residents to report any instances of illegal dumping that they see across the city to the team. By working with communities, we can swiftly remove the rubbish which interferes with people’s everyday lives and harms the environment and take action against the offenders.”