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Householder hit with £300 ‘take away’ fine
A household in Cambridge has been fined £300 after their rubbish was found dumped in Little Shelford.
The waste included four car tyres, polystyrene packaging, and other household rubbish.
It was discovered on Whittlesford Road back in July.
A passer-by reported it to South Cambridgeshire District Council, whose Environmental Crime Enforcement Team visited the scene.
Once there, officers found evidence amongst the rubbish that tied it back to a property in the city of Cambridge.
This included a name and address on a takeaway food bag. The homeowner was then interviewed under caution but could not explain how his waste had ended-up being dumped.
As a result, a Fixed Penalty Notice of £400 was issued to the Cambridge resident. This was reduced to £300 for prompt payment.
South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Brian Milnes, said: “Unfortunately, this is another example of someone not taking responsibility for their rubbish.
“If you have rubbish from home to dispose of, take it to a Household Recycling Centre like those at Milton or Thriplow, or use a business or contractor licensed as a waste carrier by the Environment Agency.
“This means that you can be confident that they will dispose of it legally and responsibly.
“Local Facebook groups are filled with people asking for someone to take their rubbish away – so it is vital that anyone who offers that service is a licensed waste carrier. If they are not, and you use them, you could end-up with a fine and even a criminal record.”
A South Cambridgeshire Council spokesperson said: “The fine was for failing to prevent any other person committing a fly tipping offence and failing to ensure that all reasonable measures were taken by the household to secure their waste or to prevent anyone else committing a fly tipping offence with it.”
The spokesperson said that all households have a duty of care to ensure that any contractor or business removing waste from a property is checked against the Environment Agency registers for authorised waste carriers, and that prior to waste being removed from a household, a Waste Transfer Note is completed.
“If these checks or paperwork are not completed, and waste is allowed to be taken away by unlicensed carriers, it can lead to fines and a criminal record,” said the spokesperson.
“You can be prosecuted even if your waste is fly tipped by someone else on your behalf.
“Always use a registered waste carrier, which you can verify on the Environment Agency website, to provide a skip or collect your rubbish so you can be confident that it will not end up dumped.
“If you witness someone fly-tipping, call the police on 999 and report it as an environmental crime in progress.” Report fly-tipping that you come across to the council at www.scambs.gov.uk/report
“Local Facebook groups are filled with people asking for someone to take their rubbish away – so it is vital that anyone who offers that service is a licensed waste carrier. If they are not, and you use them, you could end-up with a fine and even a criminal record.”
