Woman fined after rubbish dumped near wildlife hospital

The woman, from Leicester, paid an unlicensed waste carrier to dispose of a large amount of rubbish in his van. This was then illegally dumped in Fleckney Road on 16 January 2020 – just yards from the Leicestershire Wildlife Hospital and Kibworth Town Football Club.

The rubbish (pictured), which consisted of household renovation waste, was traced back to a household in Leicester following an investigation by Harborough District Council’s environmental crime team.

The householder admitted failing to check if the person removing her rubbish had a valid waste carrier’s licence. She was issued with a £300 fixed penalty notice after admitting to the offence under the Environmental Protection Act.

This is the 12th fine issued for fly-tipping offences by Harborough District Council since April 2019.

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, Harborough District Council’s portfolio holder for Environmental Health, said: “The person who dumped this waste should be ashamed of themselves. Thankfully, the tenacity of our environmental crime team has traced the person who allowed this to happen and fined them accordingly. This is another positive outcome for the team and should serve as a reminder to residents to ensure they never use unlicensed waste carriers to dispose of their rubbish.”

Householders are legally responsible for any household waste produced on their property. They have a ‘duty of care’ to check that any person or business disposing of their waste is legally allowed to do so.

There are several ways to dispose of waste that cannot go into wheeled bins:

• Take large waste items to your local recycling and waste site (tip)
• Use a licensed waste carrier to remove your waste - it is a legal requirement to use a licensed waste carrier (you can check if someone has a licence on the Environment Agency website)
• The Council’s bulky waste service allows for up to three large household items or 12 sacks of waste to be collected for a charge of £34.17.

Harborough District Council's anti-fly-tipping campaign 'Tip Off' continues to help people report cases of fly-tipping and provide information to help with investigations. It has resulted in a number of prosecutions and fines, and a significant fall in fly-tipping incidents over the past year.

Find out more, or report fly-tipping, at www.harborough.gov.uk/tip-off