A SWINDON woman has been fined for giving her rubbish to an unlicensed waste collector who then dumped it in Lyneham.
Jessica Jones of Homington Avenue, Swindon was slapped with a £440 fine for the offence after the case was brought by Wiltshire Council on Friday, November 12.
At Swindon Magistrates court Miss Jones admitted failing to ensure her household waste was lawfully transferred to a licensed waste carrier.
The court heard that the council’s Environmental Enforcement Officers traced the rubbish back to Miss Jones after it was discovered dumped on a highway verge in Lyneham.
Miss Jones claimed she had given her waste to a “person with a van” after advertising for someone to clear waste on a social media selling page covering the Swindon area.
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A council spokesman said: “The council was unable to trace the person responsible for dumping the waste because Miss Jones was unable to provide any relevant information.”
Miss Jones was given a fixed penalty notice for failing in her duty of care which would have resolved the issue without the need to head to court.
However, she did not pay the fine despite multiple letters and was then prosecuted by the council.
Cabinet member for transport and waste, Dr Mark McClelland said: “This particular case involved someone that doesn’t live in our authority area, but as the waste was dumped in Wiltshire, our officers took the appropriate action.
“We would like to trace and prosecute the person responsible for dumping rubbish, but we can only trace fly-tippers when residents provide us with relevant information.
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“It’s really important that people check for a waste carrier’s licence and take a note of the details of anyone they are paying to remove their waste.
“We have secured 27 successful prosecutions for environmental offences since 2018, and we have also seized two vehicles involved in fly-tipping and issued FPNs to both fly-tippers and householders who give their waste to unlicensed waste carriers.
“We’ll continue to do all we can to track down and take action against fly-tippers in Wiltshire.”
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