Man must pay £16,800 over waste site offences near Ludlow

Stephen Weaver was sentenced for an offence relating to the storage, deposit and treatment of mixed waste at the site in Woofferton without an environmental permit.

Weaver was fined £1,320 and ordered to pay £10,652 in compensation to the Environment Agency and £4,805.63 in costs, along with a £120 victim surcharge.

The charge was brought by the Environment Agency.

An agency spokesman said: "On September 9, 2014, an officer visited the site on Station Road, Woofferton, Ludlow and observed large mounds of mixed waste including plastic, construction and demolition waste. Mr Weaver was made aware at this time that an environmental permit was required to continue collecting, storing or treating waste on this site. Mr Weaver was advised of the appropriate permits/exemptions that he required.

"On February 20, 2015, officers visited the site again and noted newly deposited mixed waste and evidence of waste treatment activities. Environment Agency officers made a further visit on March 11, 2015, where further evidence of the treatment of waste on site was found.

"On May 26, 2015, Mr Weaver had still not applied for the appropriate permit for the work which was being carried out on this site. Since the start of these court proceedings in October 2015, Mr Weaver has applied for a waste permit for site."

Speaking after the case, an Environment Agency officer in charge of the investigation said: Mr Weaver was fully aware of his obligations to comply with the environmental permitting rules but chose to ignore them.

"We take waste crime extremely seriously and will not hesitate to prosecute in cases such as this.

"The magistrates commentated that they felt Mr Weaver had deliberately continued treating waste despite being advised that he required an environmental permit in order to do so lawfully.

"In mitigation, the court heard that the defendant made partial admissions during interview."