Company boss asks 'how do I make this go away?' after being caught fly-tipping
Three men have been forced to pay more than £5,500 after commercial waste was repeatedly dumped on a lane used by farmers, dog walkers and horse riders.
A company director whose business was found fly tipping on a country lane near West Rainton is reported to have asked officers from Durham County Council “how do I make this go away?”
.jpeg?crop=3:2,smart&trim=&width=640&quality=65)
Attention was first drawn to the fly tipping on Pit House Lane in Leamside after the site was visited by an officer from the Council following the installation of CCTV cameras at the site.
Footage from the cameras showed five individual deposits of commercial waste from three separate vehicles in June and July 2025.
One vehicle had Delta Rooflines NE Ltd livery and one of the males who deposited the waste was wearing a T-shirt with the same logo. The waste was found to contain roof tiles, plastic guttering, drainpipes, pallets and sheets of hardboard.
David Adams aged 46 of Oak Terrace Road in Middlesbrough; and another man also called David Adams, aged 21, of Hebron Drive in Middlesbrough were subsequently identified from the footage. Baily Patrick George Baldwin, aged 22, of Desford Green in Middlesbrough, was identified via Companies House as the sole director of Delta Rooflines NE Ltd.
Peterlee Magistrates' Court heard that officers carried out DVLA checks on the three vehicles used to carry out the fly tips, and the addresses of the culprits were later confirmed with insurance checks.
During a visit to one of the identified addresses, officers spotted the vehicle with the Delta Rooflines NE Ltd logo parked outside. A check on Companies House found the only director of the company was Baldwin.
Between September 2025 and March 2026, three letters were sent to the younger David Adams, but no response was received. Letters were also sent to Baldwin and the elder David Adams.
On 30 October 2025, the elder David Adams contacted the Council and advised an officer that he had sold the Delta Rooflines NE Ltd vehicle months before the fly tip. He was asked to provide proof of sale as the vehicle was seen outside of his home address on 27 July 2025, but no documentation was ever provided.
Eventually Baldwin contacted Durham County Council and was asked to attend an interview under caution regarding the offences. Peterlee Magistrates heard it was during this interview that he asked the Neighbourhood Warden: "How do I make this go away so it doesn't go to court?"
Baldwin was told that the five offences each carried a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). Taking responsibility for the offences, he accepted the FPNs and was given until December 2025 to make the payments.
Failure to do so resulted in the case going to court where Baldwin was fined and ordered to pay a victim surcharge and costs associated with clearing up the waste totalling £2,280. The elder Adams was ordered to pay £1,594, whilst the younger Adams’ total was £1,645.
Ian Hoult, neighbourhood protection manager, said: "This is a known hotspot for fly tipping, so we're pleased that the cameras we installed in the area captured the trio and helped us take action against those responsible. Installing cameras is just one of the many measures we use to deter fly tipping.
"We take fly tipping very seriously in our county as it’s a scourge on the environment and ruins the landscape for everyone else. Cases like these undercut legitimate traders and this demonstrates the severity of punishment to those caught doing it.
"Every fly tip that we clear comes at a cost to the public and taxpayer.”