A man who accepted waste removal bookings on Facebook has been fined £500 after rubbish was found fly-tipped in Harwell.
Adrian Tarft, 37, of Wash Common, Newbury, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 25 April to four charges in relation to breaching his duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act and one charge of transporting waste without being a registered waste carrier.
Magistrates heard how, on 21 March 2016, Environmental Health Officers from Vale of White Horse District Council received a call from a local farmer who had found rubbish, including a television, tyres and carpet, fly-tipped at the entrance to a field he owned along the A417 London Road in Harwell.
Officers were able to trace the waste to an address in Reading where a resident confirmed that she had made the booking with Tarft who was trading as Ebony Landscapes. The resident had made the booking via Facebook after seeing an advert Tarft had placed on the social media site.
In an interview under caution Tarft admitted accepting the booking for £100 and removing the waste without being licensed to do so, but denied dumping the rubbish. He claimed that an associate had his van at the time the fly-tip took place but declined to identify the person allegedly responsible.
In court Magistrates fined Tarft £500 and ordered him to pay the council’s £1,886 prosecution costs.
Paul Holland, Environmental Protection Manager at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “By law anyone being paid to transport waste must be registered to do so and have a record of what the rubbish is and where they’ve taken it.
“If you book a waste collection you also have a legal responsibility for checking that it’s taking place legally, so please double check any references, and ask to see documentation, before you hand any money over.”
If you see a fly-tip on public land in the Vale of White Horse please report it by calling 03000 610 610 or email [email protected].