Flytippers left to pick up cost of court fines after blighting East Durham communities by dumping waste

George Turton has been ordered to pay almost £400 after CCTV footage captured him dumping tarmac next to a farmer’s field.

A Durham County Council neighbourhood wardens spotted the waste across the entrance to a field on Petwell Lane, Easington Colliery, in August 2020.

Footage showed two flytipping incidents had taken place, one on August 7 and one on August 15, when two men got out of a white Ford Transit tipper-type van and left the material at the rear.

The landowner had not given any permission to anyone to deposit on the land and an investigation found the driver to be Turton, 64, of Tarn Close in Peterlee.

In a hearing at the town’s magistrates court he admitted a charge of depositing controlled waste otherwise than in accordance with an environmental permit.

In mitigation, Turton said he was working for a construction company and believed the land was council-owned and he could dump tarmac in unfilled holes and then return and cover them with a base coat.

He now accepts he did not have this permission and the land was privately owned.

He subsequently lost his job following the incident.

Turton was fined £80 and ordered to pay a £34 victim surcharge as well as £130 legal costs and £150 investigation costs.

In a separate case, a woman has admitted fly-tipping in three incidents last year.

Lillian McGowan left items near garages on Leven Walk, Peterlee, between March 16 and July 21, 2020, all captured on CCTV.

In mitigation, McGowan, of Leven Walk, said she could not take the items to a recycling centre as she does not have a vehicle and would not flytip again.

McGowan, 64, was fined £320 and ordered to pay court costs of £180 and a £34 victim surcharge.

Ian Hoult, the council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “These cases are a reminder that we will always do all we can to hold those who fly-tip to account."

He added business and householders must ensure their waste is disposed of legally, with access to recycling centres free and slots available for bulky waste collections.

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