Telford couple fined £300 for Christmas card fly-tipping
A Telford couple have been fined more than £300 for fly-tipping Christmas cards and wrapping after they paid someone else to take it away.
The rubbish was found at the end of Shrubbery Road, Red Lake, and was reported by a 'Street Champion' to Telford & Wrekin Council on December 29.
It contained enough information for those responsible to be traced but they admitted they didn’t know who they had paid to take the rubbish away.
The council’s enforcement officers issued them with a fixed penalty notice for £300.
Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for enforcement, said: “This case proves once again how you can be liable if the contents of a fly tip are traced back to you, even if someone else takes it away.
“Well done to our Street Champion for reporting this. The guilty couple admitted paying someone to get rid of their waste, but it wasn’t disposed of properly.
"Instead it was dumped at the end of a road a few miles away. It could so easily have been put into their recycling and waste bins. This was a costly error for them.
“All legitimate rubbish removal services will have a Waste Carrier Licence from the Environment Agency. If you are going to use someone to take away your rubbish, check they have one.”
Waste Carrier Licences can be checked on the Environment Agency website.
