Two men fined for dumping branches near Langley Park
James Alan Brick (36) of Pemberton Road, Slough and Billy Jack Long (22) of Stafford Avenue, Slough pleaded guilty at High Wycombe Magistrates Court on 15 March 2017 to a fly-tipping offence.
The court heard that on 25 August 2016 a surveillance camera targeting fly-tipping on Billet Lane, Wexham recorded images of branches waste being deposited by Mr Brick and Mr Long from their van.
When interviewed at a police station, both men admitted depositing the waste. They said the waste had come from Mr Brick’s house and that they had taken it to the Langley Household Recycling Centre but that they had no (free) permit to access the site with the van. When they had driven away they said that red ants had become a nuisance in the van and they had deposited the branches at the roadside on Billet Lane, adjacent to Langley Park. The men said that at the time they had not felt they were doing wrong, but could see now that they had offended.
The Magistrates fined Mr Brick £286 and Mr Long £213, and ordered clean-up and prosecution costs to be paid in the sum of £400 by Mr Long and £350 by Mr Long. A victim surcharge of £30 each was also levied against the men, making a total to pay of £1,309 by the pair.
Sir Beville Stanier, Chairman of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: “It may seem a trivial matter to deposit tree waste by the roadside in a woodland area, but there is always a clean-up cost to the council tax-payer. Invasive species of plant and insect pest can be transferred in this way and we will always take a dim view of this kind of fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire.”
The case was prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council working on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire. The Waste Partnership launched the “Illegal Dumping Costs” campaign in November 2003 to combat illegal dumping and waste management offences in Buckinghamshire. Since that date the Partnership has secured 579 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences. On average since April 2010, there has been at least one conviction per week for illegal dumping offences in Buckinghamshire. This has resulted in a halving of reported incidents and a significant saving to the Buckinghamshire tax payer over the period, principally through reducing removal and disposal costs.
Report fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire at www.buckscc.gov.uk/fly or call 0845 330 1856.