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Fly-tipper caught out on CCTV after illegally dumping waste

A fly-tipper was caught by his victim’s CCTV after he charged the resident to remove waste from their driveway before dumping it.

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Frederick Rogers

Frederick Rogers charged a man £50 for removing the bag of building waste, household rubbish and a fridge freezer from his driveway.

But the haul was dumped illegally at the entrance to the Four Ashes Industrial Estate in Wolverhampton.

The 29-year-old’s vehicle was caught on the victim’s CCTV and South Staffordshire District Council enforcement officers were able to track him down.

Rogers, of Hospital Lane, Walsall, admitted depositing waste without an environmental permit on January 19 at the industrial estate during a hearing at North Staffordshire Magistrates' Court.

Prosecuting for the council, Rachel Maddox said: “The victim of the offence had been doing some personal DIY and had rubbish in his drive that he was planning to dispose of. The defendant knocked on the door and offered to take it away.

“That same waste was later found fly-tipped at the entrance to the Four Ashes Industrial Estate in Wolverhampton.

“The manager of the industrial park found it on Monday, January 21.

"The manager found items of postage in the waste and that included a telephone number which he called.

"The man [victim] answered and that was passed on to the council’s enforcement team.

"He was visited and he had CCTV on his property and the defendant's vehicle was able to be identified from this.”

In mitigation, Rogers said: “I was going through some difficult times last year and it was coming up to Christmas.

"I was trying to provide for my family and my Dad has taken me on now.

"I’m doing a bit of building now and I’ll never do it again.”

Rogers was quizzed by Magistrate David Rowe as to why he did not use the tip, he replied: “It was a big van and they wouldn’t let us in the tip so I had no choice. I’ll never do it again.”

Sentencing, Mr Rowe said: “Fly-tipping is a very serious matter. Statistics tell us that the amount of fly-tipping cases last year were recorded at around 100,000 and have risen by 50 per cent in the last five years.

“Councils are cash strapped to pay for services already, without the need to pay for the cleaning up of fly-tipping.”

Rogers was ordered to pay £3,033.50 in total including fines and clean-up costs to the council.

He must pay at least £100 per week.

By Joe Burn

Local Democracy Reporter

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