A SWANSEA man who was stopped by police in Carmarthen has been fined £400 for a waste offence.
Stephen Alexander Gilheaney, aged 27, of Lon Enfys, Llansamlet, was also ordered to pay £109.22 towards prosecution costs and a £40 victim surcharge by Llanelli magistrates.
He pleaded guilty to an offence contrary to Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 of failing to provide waste transfer notes.
The court heard that Gilheaney was stopped by police in Carmarthen on March 29 in a white Ford transit van which was carrying scrap vehicle parts.
He provided the officer with details of his waste carriers licence but did not have any waste transfer notes which are required by law.
The information was passed on to the council’s environmental enforcement section which sent a covering letter and a legal notice to Gilheaney’s home address requiring him to produce the waste transfer notes for the items concerned.
Gilheaney failed to respond to the notice and a further letter was sent offering him the opportunity of accepting a fixed penalty notice for not supplying the transfer notes as requested.
However, no contact was made. A final letter was sent informing him that the council would now consider prosecuting him for the offence.
Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “All businesses that carry waste, including scrap merchants, skip companies, builders and gardeners, must have a waste carriers licence. They must also make sure they have the correct paperwork for all the waste they carry and only use licensed waste sites to dispose of their rubbish.
“Hopefully this fine will help to get the message across that anyone caught illegally transporting waste will be prosecuted.
“It is important, not only to prevent fly-tipping, but also to prevent the increasing number of metal thefts throughout the country.”
The council works closely with the police, through the Community Safety Partnership, to tackle the unauthorised movement of scrap metal in Carmarthenshire.
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