A DURRINGTON man has been slapped with a £400 fine for being in control of a vehicle used in a fly-tipping incident.

It happened on a byway off Milston Road, Durrington, in February, and is the latest in a series of fines issued by Wiltshire Council as it continues its crack down on fly-tipping. 

The Durrington incident was witnessed by a member of the public, who observed carpet underlay being thrown from a van on to the grass verge by an unknown person.

The quick-thinking witness took photographs of the vehicle and its registration as it drove away, which helped Enforcement Officers to trace the person liable for the offence.

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Salisbury Journal: Milston Road Durrington Fly Tipping FPNMilston Road Durrington Fly Tipping FPN (Image: Wiltshire Council)

The council has also issued a £400 FPN to a man from the Collingbourne Ducis area after his waste was found on military land off a byway near Everleigh, and a Bromham resident has been issued and paid a £400 fly-tipping FPN after admitting to illegally depositing household waste in a layby off the A361 between Devizes and Calstone, close to the renowned local beauty spot of Morgan’s Hill.

The council’s Enforcement Officers spotted the Bromham fly-tip in August and found evidence in the waste that related to the resident and their spouse. This led the officers to conduct a formal interview under caution so the resident could explain how this waste was found illegally disposed of.

The individual confessed under caution that they acted alone when depositing the waste in the layby. They stated they had missed their domestic waste collection and failed to get to the household recycling centre in Devizes in time before it closed. They said that the smell of the waste in the car was so unpleasant that they couldn’t return home with it and so they fly-tipped it.

Anybody who is issued with a FPN cannot be named as it is not a conviction in an open court.

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Councillor Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Highways and Waste, said: “These are four great examples that highlight the work we are doing to combat fly-tipping as part of our We’re Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign.

“These FPNs should be a reminder to Wiltshire residents to be extra vigilant when paying someone to take their waste away. Some people who advertise waste collections on social media are unlicensed to remove waste, and people should always check for a waste carriers licence and take down the vehicle details of anyone who takes away their waste – or they could be fined if the waste is dumped.

“One of our Business Plan commitments is to reduce fly-tipping in Wiltshire, and that’s why we have invested more money into covert cameras and officers to catch fly-tippers in the act, as part of our zero-tolerance approach.”