22-May-2006
- Lorry driver Francis Cooper has been ordered
to pay £500 after illegally fly tipping
on a country lane at Ferndown, Dorset, in a case
brought by the Environment Agency.
On Monday, June 27, 2005, a
fly-tip of concrete and other demolition waste
was reported to the Environment Agency on land
at High Mead Lane, Longham, Ferndown.
A passing horse-rider saw a
tipper truck in the lane and noted that it contained
rubble. She spoke to the driver about illegal
tipping and on returning later spotted a pile
of builders waste dumped under a tree in a field
and in a hedge on the west side of the lane.
A second witness, who was walking
his dog in the lane, made a note of the registration
number of the Ford Transit tipper truck and this
was later traced to Francis Cooper, of Poole,
Dorset.
He watched while two men offloading
capping stones and the male on the offside was
unloading some blocks. He also saw a piece of
board and some carpet.
When the driver was approached
about his action, he replied: “It’s OK, I have
spoken to a lady on a horse and they were going
to be used to level the lane.”
Environment Agency officers
attended the scene on 6 July and found a large
quantity of builder’s rubble, predominantly bricks,
capping stones and moulded wall blocks had been
dumped on both sides of the track.
After being traced by the officers,
Francis Cooper was formally interviewed and admitted
the offence, saying he was looking for somewhere
to tip some hardcore without having to pay.
Francis Cooper, of Herbert Avenue,
Parkstone, Poole, pleaded guilty to depositing
controlled waste on land at High Mead Lane, off
Ham Lane, Ferndown, where a waste management licence
authorising such deposit was not in force on 27
June 2005, contrary to Section 33 of the Environmental
Protection Act 11000.
Wimborne Magistrates said the
dumping of rubbish and fly tipping was a serious
matter and he knew precisely what he was doing.
He was ordered to pay costs of £500 and
given a conditional discharge for a period of
18 months.
Anita Stevens, from the Environment
Agency said: “This type of blatant fly-tipping
is completely unacceptable. There had been numerous
incidents of masonry and other builder’s rubbish
being dumped in country lanes in this area. Luckily,
the two witnesses were very vigilant and recorded
the registration number of the vehicle which allowed
us to trace the culprit.
“When we approached Francis
Cooper he readily admitted that he had been using
the vehicle and had dumped concrete and builder’s
waste at the location.”
