Woman prosecuted after not paying flytipping fine

A WOMAN has been prosecuted in court after failing to pay a fine for flytipping.

Tameside Magistrates’ Court heard council waste enforcement officers investigated fly tipped waste at Scott Gate, Audenshaw, on 8 May 2025.

The waste was traced to Jody Ashton, of West View, Audenshaw, who was offered the opportunity to discharge her liability for the offence, by paying a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

The court heard that on 6 June 2025, Ms Ashton contacted Tameside Council and admitted that the waste did belong to her, however she stated that she did not have the funds to pay the fine.

The council extended the deadline to pay the fine to three months to give her more time to find the funds and sent several reminders to pay the FPN. However, the fine remain unpaid and there was no further contact from Ms Ashton.

On 10 April 2026, Ms Ashton attended court and pleaded guilty to fly tipping. She said she had put a medicine bag inside a bag of waste which was inside someone else’s bin. She denied that she was responsible for the black bags themselves or them being dumped on the pavement.

The magistrates gave Ms Ashton a conditional discharge for 6 months and ordered to pay a contribution towards prosecution costs of £200, plus a £26 victim surcharge.

Tameside Council Strategic Director Housing, Environment and Estates Julian Jackson said: “We know how much flytipping concerns residents and we have a robust approach to finding those responsible and holding them to account. We’re often asked what happens if people don’t pay a fixed penalty notice and, as this case exemplifies, we prosecute them in court.

“There is no excuse for flytipping, it is a blight on our local communities and environment and our teams work hard to tackle it. Latest figures show that in 2024/25 we issued 224 fixed penalty notices for flytipping – more than anywhere else in the north west and this is the second year running that we’ve topped the tables in taking enforcement action against dumped waste.

“My thanks go to our teams who are out there every day investigating and clearing flytipping and thank you also to all members of the community who work with us to tackle flytipping and clear litter – most people take immense pride, care and shared responsibility for the places where they live.”