Londoner fined nearly £1k after being filmed dumping rubbish in Bucks lay-by

A London man who was caught on camera dumping a sofa in a Bucks lay-by has been fined nearly £1,000.

Mark Mills, aged 39, of Lovatt Drive, Ruislip, admitted the dumping offence during an interview at the Bucks Council offices in Aylesbury.

He pleaded guilty to illegally dumping waste when he appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates Court on March 29.

The court heard that on June 8 2022, waste comprising a sofa and sofa parts was found dumped at West Hyde Lane, Chalfont St Peter.

The Bucks Council enforcement team carries out regular surveillance in the area due to it being heavily blighted with fly-tipping, and caught Mills in the act.

A camera recorded a vehicle arriving in the daytime and the driver was filmed fly-tipping waste into the bushes of a rough lay-by.

The vehicle was traced back to a removal company in Slough and later found to have been in the possession of Mark Mills on the date of the offence.

Magistrates fined Mills £768 and ordered him to pay a contribution of £85 towards the council’s clean up and investigation costs. A victim surcharge of £77 was also levied, making a total to pay of £930.

Gareth Williams, cabinet member for environment at Bucks Council, said: “We carry out regular surveillance, targeting fly-tipping across the county as part of our zero-tolerance approach.

"Our investigations show that around 70 per cent of waste dumped in Bucks has been brought in from other areas, as was the case with this incident, and tackling this onslaught is a key priority.

"What is even more galling with this case is the fact that the offender could have recycled this waste free of charge at his local council recycling centre.”

Last year, Bucks Council won £50,000 of funding from DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to tackle cross-border fly-tipping in Bucks.

The funding is being used on a variety of measures, including filling in roadside areas that are prone to fly-tipping and using specialist cameras to record footage of those illegally dumping waste so they can be traced and prosecuted.

To report fly-tipping in Bucks, visit FixMyStreet.