Memory lapse costs Sunderland man £350 for uncollected rubbish

The resident dumped a sofa, bed base, mattress and several bags of household waste in the back lane outside his home in Moir Terrace, intending to arrange a bulky waste collection after an acquaintance who said he would dispose of it failed to show up.

But he ended up having to pay a £350 fixed penalty notice for the offence as an alternative to prosecution, after the rubbish was reported to the City Council.

Coun Michael Mordey, Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council, said: "As a council we are determined to clamp down on people who blight their neighbourhood by dumping rubbish irresponsibly.

"People have got to realise they can't just put waste out and forget about it. Householders have a legal duty of care to make sure that waste is disposed of lawfully and failing to do so is an offence.

"And while this proved to be a very costly memory lapse for this particular resident, I hope it also serves as a timely reminder to anyone who is moving house to make sure they have made arrangements to dispose of any bulky items responsibly before putting them outside.

"I'd advise anyone with large items of furniture or fridges to dispose of to use the council's bulky waste service, which costs £17.50 to get rid of up to eight items, or a licensed waste collector to avoid ending up facing costly charges or fines."

Anyone who sees anyone fly tipping or dropping litter can report it anonymously to: https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/12416/Report-fly-tipping

Since the launch of Sunderland City Council's Environmental Enforcement Policy last February, the Environmental Enforcement Team has carried out 4,168 investigations into environmental crimes across the city, including littering, dog fouling and fly-tipping.

This has resulted in more than 500 formal warnings being issued and 165 fines issued for waste offences across the city.

*The Echo's ‘Clean Streets’ campaign aims to support the city council in keeping Sunderland looking its best - and you can help.

Know a litter/rubbish blackspot? Send us in your pictures - either via our Facebook and Twitter pages or email them to [email protected]

Businesses, schools, community groups – are you involved in clean-up projects in your communities? Let us know either through the same channels or call the newsdesk on (0191) 5017326.