Sunderland woman forced to pay £95 after dumping sofa in back lane

A woman has had to fork out nearly £100 to have a sofa which she left in a back lane removed.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Jan 2018, 13:29 BST
Updated 18th Jan 2018, 13:35 BST
The sofa found in Markham Street.The sofa found in Markham Street.
The sofa found in Markham Street.

Fly-Tip Investigation Officers came across the sofa and a black bag of household waste deposited in the back lane of Markham Street in Grangetown during their routine patrols and referred it to the Environmental Enforcement Team after finding evidence linking it to the property.

During a formal interview the householder admitted depositing the sofa and bag in the back lane.

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She claimed she had spoken to a third party about coming to collect them, but no day or time for collection had been agreed leaving them in the lane, causing a nuisance and looking unsightly.

This resulted in her being asked to pay the £95 clearance and disposal costs to have them removed straight away and being given a formal warning that future deposits would result in action being taken against her.

Councillor Michael Mordey, the council's Portfolio Holder for City Services, said: "This proved to be a costly mistake for resident concerned.

"Depositing and leaving of waste on public land without permission is an offence.

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"That's why we would always advise anyone with large items of furniture or fridges to dispose of to use the council's bulky waste service which costs £17.50 for up to 8 items or to use a licenced waste contractor.

"But if you do use a private contractor you need to make sure that they are legitimate and that they have a waste carrier's licence, because if the person you use then fly tips the waste you could be the one who has to pay the costs of having it cleaned up.

"We’d also encourage anyone who sees anyone fly tipping or dropping litter to report it to https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/12416/Report-fly-tipping "

The council says that 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 450 formal warnings being issued and 128 fines issued for waste offences.

Related topics:SunderlandSunderland City Council