Two Swindon residents have been fined £600 each after separate fly-tipping incidents in the Wiltshire Council area.
Both cases involved household waste being dumped after the residents failed to check whether the people taking their rubbish were licensed waste carriers.
The first incident was discovered on Stone Lane in Lydiard Millicent, where officers found a large fly-tip including a fridge, furniture, household fittings, carpets and rubble.
The council’s Environmental Enforcement Team traced the waste back to a Swindon resident who had recently moved home and arranged for their old address to be cleared.
During an interview, the resident told officers they had agreed to pay £130 to the driver of a yellow waste van they had seen operating locally.
They admitted they did not check for a waste carrier licence, did not ask for a receipt, and did not record the vehicle registration number or business details.
As a result, the resident was issued with a £600 fixed penalty notice for failing in their household waste duty of care, which has since been paid in full.
In the second case, a single bag containing food waste and personal items was found dumped on Hook Street in Lydiard Tregoze.
A local resident cleared the waste before reporting it and kept it to assist with the investigation.
Officers later identified evidence linking the rubbish to another Swindon resident, who had also failed to ensure their waste was passed to a licensed collector.
That resident was also issued with a £600 fine.
The person who provided information in the Hook Street case will receive high street vouchers through the council’s We’re Targeting Fly-tippers campaign.
The council said those fined cannot be named because a fixed penalty notice is not a court conviction.
Wiltshire Council is reminding residents that anyone producing waste has a legal duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Cllr Martin Smith, Cabinet Member for Highways, Street Scene and Flooding, said: “If you’re disposing of waste, whether household or business, you must dispose of it correctly and make sure it goes to a licensed waste carrier.
“Handing it to someone without checking their credentials is a risk. If they dump it, you could be liable and can still be fined or prosecuted.
“Fly-tipping damages our countryside, creates hazards, and costs taxpayers money to clear.
“Please take a few minutes to check a carrier’s licence and keep a receipt, it’s the law and it protects you.”
Residents are advised to check waste carrier licences on the Environment Agency website at www.environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers
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Failure to comply can result in fixed penalty notices of up to £1,000 or prosecution, where fines are unlimited and imprisonment is possible.
