A fly-tipper from Hull has been ordered to pay more than £400 after he dumped a large box of Christmas wrapping paper in Paull.
Mike Morley, 32, of Romford Grove, Hull, disposed of the full box in a ditch in Hedon Road in the village, south of Hull, after agreeing to take the work friend’s waste to a household waste recycling site.
Morley pleaded guilty to the illegal depositing of waste on or around Boxing Day 2020 when he appeared at Hull Magistrates’ Court on Friday 1 October.
He was fined £200, ordered to pay £200 costs and pay a victim surcharge of £34.
The court heard the box of wrapping paper and packaging was found by a local resident on 26 December 2020. The resident recovered the items from the ditch, found the name and address of the person that the waste belonged to, and reported the matter to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.
An officer from the council’s streetscene enforcement team carried out an investigation which led to Morley.
He admitted to collecting the waste and said he had intended to take it to a household waste recycling site but found them to be closed that day, so he decided to dump the waste instead.
Household waste recycling sites in the East Riding and in Hull are only closed on Christmas Day Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Morley was originally asked to pay a fixed penalty charge, however after this went unpaid, the council then began formal legal proceedings.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council continues to remind residents they are responsible for disposing of their own waste properly and legally by using their household bins or taking it to their local household waste recycling site.
For larger loads, they can also hire a licensed waste carrier to take the rubbish away, and follow the SCRAP Code below, or use the council’s own bulky waste collection service.
Paul Tripp, head of streetscene services at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said: “I’d like to thank the community-spirited person who found and recovered this waste and then reported it to us. Because of their actions we were able to bring this fly-tipper to justice.
“Just remember, the responsibility lies with the resident to make sure they dispose of their waste correctly and legally, and this will help us to prevent fly-tipping in the first place.”
Anyone caught fly-tipping could be ordered to pay a £400 fixed penalty notice or the case can be taken to court, where they face an unlimited fine or even imprisonment.
