Residents fined for dumping bags of rubbish near their homes

TWO women have been fined by Tameside magistrates for separate waste offences of dumping bags of rubbish in their local neighbourhoods.

In the first case, the court heard, that  a Tameside Council enforcement officer found a black bin bag of waste while investigating flytipping on Kings Road, Ashton, on 4 January 2023.

The waste was traced back to Sarah Audin, of Kings Road, Ashton, and an Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) was issued under Section 87, Environmental Protection Act 1990 – Offence of Leaving Litter.

Letters were sent to Ms Audin with details on how to pay the FPN, followed by reminder letters, but the fine remained unpaid.

The council instigated a prosecution however Ms Audin failed to attend court on 21 September 23. Following this, a warrant was issued for her arrest and Ms Audin was subsequently bailed to attend court today (15 January 2024).

This time she attended court and pleaded guilty to a household duty of care offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 . Ms Audin said she put the binbag on top of her bin not in the bin and accepted she should have placed it inside.

Magistrates ordered her to pay a £180 fine including costs.

In the second case, the court heard a council enforcement officer found several bags of household waste on Ripon Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, on 10 August 2022.

The waste was traced back to Lorane Blake of Egerton Street, Ashton and an FPN was issued under Section 87, Environmental Protection Act 1990 – Offence of Leaving Litter.

Letters were sent to Ms Blake with details on how to pay the FPN, followed by reminder letters, but the fine remained unpaid.

The council instigated a prosecution and Ms Blake failed to attend court on 24 April 2023. Following this, a warrant was issued for her arrest and Ms Blake was subsequently bailed to attend court today (15 January 2024).

Ms Blake attended court on this occasion and pleaded guilty to a household duty of care offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Ms Blake said she accepted the waste was placed next to her bin and should have been placed inside.  Magistrates said that she had been negligent and ordered her to pay £356 including costs.

Tameside Council Assistant Executive Member responsible for Enforcement Cllr Vincent Ricci said: “I’m pleased to see yet further successful prosecutions for waste offences and people held accountable for failing to dispose of their waste legally and responsibly. Our officers are out every day investigating waste, littering and flytipping offences as part of the council’s Our Streets campaign to make our streets cleaner and safer and they will always take enforcement action where they find evidence for who is responsible.

“There is no excuse for dumping waste, it is disrespectful to other local residents and the environment and is an issue of great concern to the local community, most of whom act responsibly and take pride in their local neighbourhoods.”

To report fly-tipping in Tameside see www.tameside.gov.uk/flytipping. There more information on the Our Streets campaign can be found at www.tameside.gov.uk/ourstreets.