A Gateshead man has been fined hundreds of pounds after leaving mounds of rubbish in his backyard.
Gateshead Council took action after getting complaints about the state of Kenneth Gray's backyard outside his Brighton Road flat.
It received reports of an "accumulation" of junk in the outside space which prompted officers from the council's environmental health team to make repeated visits to the property.
Representing the council, Jill Brown told magistrates the authority had attempted to persuade the 42-year-old to remove the rubbish before finally issuing him with a community protection notice in December last year.
A community protection notice (CPN) can be issued following persistent anti-social behaviour.
Failure to comply can lead to a fixed penalty notice, remedial action or a court order.
CPN's can be issued by local councils, police or social housing trusts and can be used to deal with noise nuisance, rubbish in gardens and littering.
Speaking at Gateshead Law Courts on Monday, Ms Brown said: "The council received complaints of waste accumulating on the rear yard of Brighton Road.
"On July 17, an officer visited the property but was unable to inspect the rear yard because no one was there."
Ms Brown said the officer visited the property again in early August, and saw for herself the rubbish in the yard and later that month visited again where she spoke to Mr Gray.
She continued: "The officer revisited the property and took photographs and spoke to Mr Gray."
"On September 11, she revisited the property and noted steps to take away some of the waste and gave him 14 days to clear it completely."
The amount of rubbish on the property had increased again and Mr Gray was issued a warning letter giving him a fortnight to remove the refuse.
Despite the warning, he didn't clean up his act and he was issued with a community protection notice in December, ordering him to get his yard in order.
Mr Gray did not turn up to court and in his absence was prosecuted for not complying with a community protection notice ordering removal of all household refuse items and waste materials from the yard between 6 December 6 and December 28, 2018.
He was ordered to pay £300 costs, a £440 fine and a £44 victim surcharge - a total of £784.
Mr Gray was not available for comment.
