A MAN who dumped two sofas has been successfully prosecuted for fly tipping by Chichester District Council, after being caught on CCTV dumping the sofas at a building merchants’ premises.

It was the first of several prosecutions currently taking place for fly-tipping in the district.

Chichester District Council spent more than £52,000 on cleaning up fly-tipped waste from public land last year.

Paul Taylor, 59, of Middle Park Way, Havant, pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawful deposit of controlled waste contrary to section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, during a hearing at Ports-mouth Crown Court, on February 6,

Taylor also pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to assist in an investigation by not providing information to an authorised person and failing to provide a declaration of truth contrary to section 108 and 110 of the Environment Act 1995.

He was ordered to pay a £1,300 fine for the offences which happened last year.

The successful prosecution comes after the council redeployed one of its officers to deal specifically with fly tipping offences.

Councillor Carol Purnell, CDC’s member for environment services said: “Last year our council spent more than £52,000 on cleaning up fly-tipped waste from public land.

“We are pleased this is the first of several prosecutions currently taking place to stop people from making a profit at the expense of the environment and the tax payer.

“Our enforcement team is working hard to bring fly-tippers to justice and we hope that this sends out a clear message that it’s not acceptable to dump waste or fail to co-operate with our investigations.

“We know people often come in from outside our district to fly tip.

“We would urge people to be alert and contact us immediately with as much information as possible if they spot fly tipped waste.”

Householders and businesses are urged to check before hiring an individual or company to take away waste on their behalf.

Residents have paid for people to take their waste away only for it to be found dumped later on.

All legal waste carriers are registered by the Environment Agency (EA). People can check a company or individual by going to the EA’s website at www.environment.data. gov.uk and search for “waste carrier brokers”.

The council also offers the following advice on noting down the following details on the day waste is being collected in case it is found dumped:–

• Who collected it including name of company, name of person and description and

• Vehicle details including make, model, colour and registration; and details of what was taken away.

Roger Barrow, member for contract services whose teams clear fly-tipped material, said: “Gathering this information may seem onerous but by law it is the householder who is responsible for ensuring their waste is disposed of safely and legally – even if they are paying someone else to take it away.

“Sadly, there are some illegal waste carriers out there who take payment from unwitting members of the public and then dump the material. Often the waste can be traced back to the householder but not the carrier which means the householder could be held responsible.”

He added: “We would also urge householders to be especially cautious if someone turns up on their doorstep unannounced, offering to take waste away for them.”

Residents can report fly-tipping incidnets by going to www.chichester.gov.uk/flytipping