Van driver pays out £600 after dumping rubbish in Sunderland

The waste, which included carpets, a pool table, a sofa, mattresses and other household items, was reported by a member of the public who saw a white transit van fly tipping large quantities of furniture at the back of The Green in Southwick.

When the driver was identified and challenged, he initially denied any knowledge of it and then said he had left the waste there temporarily with the intention of removing it later that day.

But he refused to say where it had come from or how he was planning to dispose of it.

Enforcement Officers went back later that day to find the waste had been removed but when the van driver failed to provide the necessary paperwork relating to the disposal of the waste, he was fined £300 and made to pay a further £300 for failing to provide a copy of his licence to carry waste.

Coun Michael Mordey, Portfolio Holder for City Services, said: "I hope this sends out a strong warning to any van drivers tempted to go down a similar route.

"Very often, waste collected by unlicensed waste carriers ends up being fly-tipped around the city causing a blight on our communities.

"We are not prepared to tolerate this type of behaviour. We can and we will clamp down on any unlicensed waste disposal companies we find dumping waste illegally.

"I would also urge anyone with large items they need to get rid of to make sure that they use a licensed waste contractor or the council's bulky waste service which costs £17.50 for up to eight items.

"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."

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 4168 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 across the city.