A fly-tipper who advertised his dumping business on social media has been hauled before the courts and fined more than £3,000.
Newark and Sherwood District Council is now warning other rogue waste operators they will 'face the full force of the law' if they dump rubbish in the area.
Corey Batterham, 24, from Newark, must pay more than £3,000 after pleading guilty to dumping waste at the Sherwood Pines beauty spot.
Batterham failed to attend court on November 6 before being arrested by police. He attended Nottingham Magistrates' Court on November 15.
Magistrates were told that Batterham had dumped polystyrene, cardboard, building materials and household rubbish on a roadway at Sherwood Pines after being paid by Jay Boby, a Newark builder, to dispose of the waste.
The court heard the builder had spotted a posting on Facebook from Batterham offering waste removal. Council inspectors were able to trace the rubbish back to the original owner.
Batterham was ordered to pay a £1,900 fine, £1,000 legal costs and £181 victim surcharge.
At the earlier hearing Boby, 27, who had failed to take the appropriate steps to prevent rubbish being fly-tipped, was also was fined for failing to use a licensed waste carrier.
He was ordered to pay £250, reduced to £167 for an early guilty plea, with a £30 victim surcharge and £150 legal costs, totalling £347 to be paid in 14 days.
The district council said it was "keenly aware" that rogue waste disposal operators - posing as legitimate businesses – are "actively advertising their services on social media sites" and often just dump collected rubbish on other people’s land or in public.
Andrew Kirk, the district council’s business manager for waste management, said: "We welcome the outcome of the case as it sends out a stern warning to fly-tippers who are being targeted in the district council's Not in Newark and Sherwood campaign.
"We take fly-tipping very seriously and we will seek the toughest punishments possible where the evidence supports a prosecution. Not only is fly-tipping harmful to the community and the environment, it results in a considerable cost to the public purse to clear up.
"There are plenty of legitimate rubbish removal services – including the council’s own – that will dispose of your waste legally and responsibly.
"However, there are some which totally ignore the law, cut corners and who will take your rubbish away with no questions asked and this simply will not be tolerated.
"We will not give up pursuing fly-tippers and bringing them to justice, so it’s pleasing to see this case reach such a satisfactory conclusion."
During the financial year 2018-19, the council removed 1,438 fly-tips with a combined weight of 361.89 tonnes and costing the taxpayer £55,000 annually.
For the current 2019-20 period, 639 fly-tips had been removed between April and November with a combined weight of 169.59 tonnes.
The council said this shows that the problem is getting worse.
