A WOMAN has been handed more than £800 in fines, costs and compensation charges after dumping her rubbish on a footpath – after she claimed her bins had previously been filled by others.
Wiltshire Council prosecuted Lilly Bence, of Bank Row, Calne, after she admitting putting bags of waste alongside bins on a path adjacent to the route.
Ms Bence was ordered to pay £822.72 in fines, costs and compensation after pleading guilty to fly-tipping when she appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court on March 22.
The case dates back to June 26 last year, when the council received a complaint that waste had been deposited on the footpath.
Environmental Enforcement Officers visited the site and found several open shopping bags, full of waste that was spilling on to the public footpath.
“The bags were full of used nappies, food waste, cardboard, drink cans, food packaging and other assorted waste,” a council spokesperson said.
“Food waste and packaging was also found directly on pavement, under the bags.”
The rubbish was traced to Ms Bence, who acknowledged most of the waste was hers and that she had left it on the path.
Officers also found she had previously received three waste contamination warning tags attached to her bin, as well as a warning letter and visit by a Waste Officer prior to the incident.
Ms Bence was issued with a £400 fixed penalty notice (FPN) for depositing the waste on the public footpath, but failed to pay, leading to the prosecution.
Her case hit the headlines in August 2023, when Ms Bence claimed she had been issued the FPN because her recycling bins were full of beer cans deposited by people visiting the Calne bike meet in July that year, meaning there was no room for her waste.
However, the fly-tipping incident took place on June 26, more than a month before the bike meet, on July 29.
Cllr Nick Holder, cabinet member for highways and Street Scene, said: “We are focused on tackling fly-tipping in Wiltshire, and as part of our Business Plan commitment and our award-winning We’re Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign, we have invested an extra £150,000 a year into tackling environmental crime.
“This investment has so far seen a 125% increase in fly-tipping prosecutions and a 118% increase in fixed penalty notices in the past year, which shows that we will take all legal options available to us wherever we find fly-tipping.
“In this case, the site where Ms Bence dumped her waste was a fly-tipping hotspot and has attracted a number of complaints from local residents, businesses, and the town council over recent years.
“Had she stored her bins in the correct location after collection and acted on the warnings from our officers, she would not have found herself in this situation. She also had the opportunity to pay a £400 fixed penalty notice and avoid the court action but failed to do so.
“If anyone spots fly-tipping in Wiltshire, I’d urge them to report it to us using MyWilts and our officers will investigate and take action.”
To find out how to report fly-tipping in Wiltshire and to report it, plus more about the WTF campaign and how people who report fly-tipping could get a reward, people should go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/fly-tipping.
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