Rubbish in Great Chart Photo: ABC
Complaints about rubbish building up outside an Ashford house has ended in court, where a man and a woman have been handed fines and costs of more than £3,000.
In April 2022 Ashford Borough Council were alerted to household rubbish building up on the pavement at the rear of a home in Kilndown Close in the town. Checks were made and a man and a woman were identified as being liable for council tax at the property. Council officers visited the home on several occasions to monitor the situation and take photographs of the rubbish.
In August 2022 a member of the public reported a fly-tip in Purchase Lane, Great Chart and Ashford’s Environmental Enforcement Team found that the dumped waste consisted of an armchair, carpet, plastic boxes, golf bag, suitcases, household refuse bags, bags for life, blue sheeting and a grey and white flecked work surface.
Documents recovered from the rubbish identified the woman living in the house in Kilndown Close.
A further fly-tip site was identified nearby. This was larger and contained various bags of waste, a long red coloured bag and broken wooden furniture. It was noted that the same distinctive blue sheeting found in Purchase Lane was also present at the second site.
As part of this complex and painstaking investigation by the team, photos taken of the waste at the rear of the Kilndown Close house were compared to those taken at the sites of the two fly-tips. Similar items were noted in all images.
The Kilndown Close woman was invited to attend the Civic Centre for an interview under caution but she failed to attend. The man who had previously been identified as also being responsible for council tax at the home, was separately invited to attend the Civic Centre for an interview under caution but he also failed to attend.
Both the man and woman appeared at Folkestone Magistrates Court on 8 November 2023. They both pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 110 of the Environmental Protection Act 1995, which states that it is an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, to fail to comply with a requirement to attend an interview under caution regarding an investigation.
In addition, the man admitted a further offence of failing in his legal duty of care to ensure that before using someone to dispose of your rubbish you must carry out checks to ensure that the waste collectors are registered with the Environmental Agency and carry an authorised licence.
He told the court that he had paid a friend £200 to take the waste away from the property in Kilndown Close. For both offences he was given fines and costs totalling £1,705.36.
The woman was given fines and costs totalling £1,355.36 for the offence of failing to attend the Civic Centre for an interview under caution.
The total fines and costs handed down to the man and woman was £3,060.72.
Legal duty of care
A spokesman for the Ashford Environmental Enforcement team says householders continue to trust “complete strangers” to dispose of their waste without asking for proof that they are licensed to do so, or obtaining a proper receipt for the transaction.
“It is vital that householders adhere to their Duty of Care and always ask to see the Waste Carriers Environment Agency licence. I can’t believe that residents still hand over large amounts of cash to people that they have never dealt with before. Always get a receipt or invoice for any payments of services made and always ensure that it has the full contact details of the service provider.
“If your waste is fly-tipped and we discover that you have failed carry out the necessary checks then you face a £400 Fixed Penalty Notice!”