Two fly-tippers have been ordered to pay costs of more than £3,000 after they admitted dumping building waste in two separate cases in County Durham.
In the first incident, Durham County Council received a report that waste was dumped on a bridleway blocking access to nearby houses at Morton House, Morton Grange, Fencehouses in August last year.
A white flatbed van was captured on CCTV travelling past the entrance to a home, carrying a large amount of building waste that matched the waste that was on the bridleway.
Details of a registration plate were given to officers showing 25-year-old Josh Wilfred Hall, of Sheriff Moor Avenue, Easington Lane, Houghton-le-Spring to be the owner.
The vehicle was seized by the council and at Peterlee Magistrates Court, Hall pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and using his vehicle to do so.
He was fined £320 and ordered to pay legal and investigation costs of £1,320 and a £34 victim surcharge, totalling £1,674.
In a second case, a neighbourhood warden discovered building waste on land at the North East Industrial Estate in Peterlee in April last year.
The suspect vehicle was identified through CCTV footage and officers saw the same vehicle while they were on patrol in Seaham just over two weeks later.
Ryan Whittington, 28, from Buddle Close in Peterlee, admitted that he owned the vehicle and had been the driver.
He was fined £984 and ordered to pay £331 in legal costs and a £98 victim surcharge, totalling £1,413.
Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: "In the last month alone, we have prosecuted eight people including these two, for fly-tipping offences.
"We hope these fines serve as yet another reminder that we take all reports of fly-tipping within County Durham extremely seriously and that anyone responsible for dumping their waste will be held to account.
"There is no excuse for fly-tipping, particularly when there are many ways to dispose of your waste responsibly, including by taking unwanted items for free to any of our household waste recycling centres.
"We continue to do all we can to tackle this issue and would appeal to anyone who has witnessed fly-tipping to report the incident and come forward with information."
For more information on fly-tipping and how to report it, visit www.durham.gov.uk/flytipping
