South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 21/04/2016

Two brothers from Twerton, near Bath, have each been ordered to pay £600 in costs, carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and be subject to a year’s Community Order, after admitting fly tip offences in areas of South Gloucestershire and Bath.

Zachary Adams, 28, and Felix Adams, 25, of Tanners Walk, Twerton, admitted four offences of jointly fly tipping waste when the case was heard at North Avon Magistrates’ Court on Friday 15 April.

Three of the offences took place in the Bath area, namely Newton-St-Loe and Bloomfield, and the other one at Marshfield Lane in Wick, South Gloucestershire.

The court heard that the Adams brothers started a house clearance and rubbish removals business early in 2015, and advertised their services on the internet. However the business didn’t prove to be a success and when they collected waste from addresses around Bath and Bristol, they fly tipped the waste rather than dispose of it properly. The fly tip in South Gloucestershire took place when the brothers were returning home from picking up waste in Brislington, Bristol, and stopped off on Marshfield Lane to dump the waste.

The court also heard that on one occasion the brothers fly tipped on the parking area at the rear of a private house and on another occasion in a country lane. Their business struggled and ceased trading altogether in the summer of 2015.

South Gloucestershire Council’s Communities Committee Chair Cllr Heather Goddard said: “This continues our zero tolerance policy regarding fly tipping and serves as another reminder that if you are involved in the illegal dumping of waste in South Gloucestershire, you will be prosecuted.
“The close co-operation between South Gloucestershire and Bath and North East Somerset councils enabled us to pursue these fly tippers, even though the offences took place several months ago and across a number of local authority areas.”

In another case heard on the same day, a Yate woman was ordered to pay a total of £574 in fines and costs after fly tipping waste in a South Gloucestershire country lane.

Emma Curness, 29, of Lansdown, Yate, appeared at North Avon Magistrates’ Court on Friday 15 April and admitted fly tipping waste at Gibbs Lane in Dodington, South Gloucestershire.

The court heard that Curness had cleared rubbish from her house into a van and emptied the contents in Gibbs Lane.

Curness was handed a £240 fine, a £24 victims surcharge and ordered to pay costs of £310.

You can carry out these simple steps to make sure your waste is disposed of legally:
• Ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken. Legitimate firms will be happy to provide this information. Do not be tempted to use people offering cheap waste clearance on sites such as Facebook and Gumtree unless you have confirmed that they are registered with the Environment Agency
• Check whether the waste carrier is registered by calling the Environment Agency on 08708 506506 or by checking on their website
• Ask for a registered trading address and contact telephone number for the trader and get a receipt.

Unwanted goods and household or garden waste can all be disposed of at no cost via the council’s Sort It centres.

Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by contacting the StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping