Two men hit with fines and costs totaling more than £3,000 for flytipping after being caught on CCTV
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Ryan Whittington admitted to dumping building waste on land at the North East Industrial Estate.
A neighbourhood warden discovered the waste in April last year and was able to review CCTV footage to identify the vehicle.
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Hide AdWhen officers then saw the same vehicle while they were on patrol in Seaham just over two weeks later, the 28-year-old admitted that he owned the vehicle and had been the driver.
Whittington, from Buddle Close in Peterlee, was fined £984 and ordered to pay £331 in legal costs and a £98 victim surcharge, totaling £1,413.
He was one of two men prosecuted at Peterlee Magistrates Court.
Durham County Council received a report of flytipping at Morton House, Morton Grange, Fencehouses in August last year, after waste was dumped on a bridleway, blocking access to nearby houses.
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Hide AdOfficers were able to obtain CCTV footage showing a white flatbed van carrying a large amount of building waste, which matched what was on the bridleway.
A further complainant was able to provide the registration number, with the details showing 25-year-old Josh Wilfred Hall, of Sheriff Moor Avenue, Easington Lane, to be the owner.
The council was able to seize the vehicle and Hall pleaded guilty to flytipping and using his vehicle to do so.
He was fined £320 and ordered to pay legal and investigation costs of £1,320 and a £34 victim surcharge, totalling £1,674.
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Hide AdIan Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “In the last month alone, we have prosecuted eight people including these two, for fly-tipping offences. We hope these fines serve as yet another reminder that we take all reports of flytipping within County Durham extremely seriously and that anyone responsible for dumping their waste will be held to account.
“There is no excuse for flytipping, particularly when there are many ways to dispose of your waste responsibly, including by taking unwanted items for free to any of our household waste recycling centres.
“We continue to do all we can to tackle this issue and would appeal to anyone who has witnessed fly-tipping to report the incident and come forward with information.”
For more information on flytipping and how to report it, visit www.durham.gov.uk/flytipping