Waste Removal Prosecution

THE owner of a waste removal business has been ordered to pay £10,215 for dumping commercial waste and defrauding the council at the Civic amenity site in Trostre.

Michael Anthony Jones’s works van was seen going in and out of the domestic side of the Trostre Civic Amenity Site 45 times.

Jones, of Garden Suburbs, Trimsaran, pleaded guilty at Carmarthen Magistrates Court to an offence contrary to Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act and an offence contrary to Section 9 of the Fraud Act.

The court was told that Jones was running a waste removal business. His van was seen being driven over to the domestic side of the civic amenity site instead of going to the commercial side and paying.

Cameras at the site showed that the van had been in there 45 times and he would have had to pay £7,500 if he had gone to the commercial side. He was summoned for fraud and fly tipping as he defrauded the council and didn’t have permission to tip the waste at the site without going over the weighbridge.

Executive board member for environmental and public protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “Our civic amenity sites are there for members of the public to deposit waste materials free and for businesses to pay to do the same. If business people abuse the facility by tipping their waste for free in the domestic section we will prosecute and they will face tough penalties.

“These offences led to a substantial loss of income for the local authority from the service provided. I am pleased that in addition to imposing fines, the court has made an order for substantial compensation for lost income and prosecution costs for the council.”

Jones was fined £600 each for the two offences, ordered to pay costs of £9,000 to the local authority and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15.