Criminal record for landlord who dumped waste after building work

A landlord has been prosecuted after construction and renovation waste from his rental property was found dumped in Cambridgeshire.

The dumped rubbish consisted of timber, mattresses, carpets, tiles, and other household waste, and was removed from a property in Huntingdon as part of renovation works before renting the home out again.

Evidence from the waste pile was investigated by council and police officers who found that the owner was a landlord living in Hunstanton, Norfolk, who said a friend had been looking after the property - - but he was unable to provide any contract of employment, or other documented proof of liability for this person.

The landlord admitted work had been carried out on the property and identified several items that were found in the waste as being from his address.  He further admitted that he hadn’t made the necessary checks on the contractors regarding the waste disposal.

He pleaded guilty to failing in his duty of care and was fined £400 with £1,000 costs - plus a criminal record.

A council spokesperson says: “This … highlights the dangers of not taking all reasonable precautions to safeguard waste transfers. Fly-tipping is a blight on the local environment, a danger to public health and a hazard to wildlife. It also undermines legitimate waste businesses.”

The council also points out that the government currently only measures the cost of clearing larger scale fly tipping incidents, described as “tipper lorry load size or larger.” 

In 2020/21, 39,000 or four per cent of total incidents were of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger, which is an increase of 16 per cent from 33,000 in 2019/20.  

For these large fly tipping incidents, the cost of clearance to local authorities in England in 2020/21 was £11.6 million, compared with £10.9 million in 2019/20.

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