A man from Stoke Gifford has been ordered to pay a total of £1,541 after he was caught on CCTV fly-tipping outside a country pub. David Spiring, 38, of Cow Barton in Stoke Gifford, pleaded guilty to the offence of fly-tipping when he appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court on February 2 after being prosecuted by South Gloucestershire Council.
Spiring previously failed twice to appear in court for the offence leading magistrates to issue a warrant for his arrest. He was detained ahead of the hearing on Thursday, where he was ordered to pay a fine of £480, along with £813 in costs, £56 in clear-up costs, and a £192 victim surcharge, making a total of £1,541.
The court heard that on August 8 2022, the proprietor of The White Horse Public House on Hambrook Lane became aware of a number of black household rubbish bags that had been discarded in the car park of the pub. CCTV footage from the pub's security cameras revealed that a car had driven into the car park that morning, and the driver had proceeded to remove approximately six black bags of household waste from the vehicle, which he left in the car park, before driving off.
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Footage also appeared to show that the vehicle had three single mattresses attached to its roof, but they were not discarded, and the driver departed with them still attached to the car. After contacting South Gloucestershire Council and Environmental Enforcement, who confirmed that it was general household waste, a letter addressed to Spiring at his home address was found within one of the bags.
After inspecting the vehicle captured on CCTV, Spiring was revealed as its registered keeper, and Automatic Number Plate Recognition enquiries were able to locate the car in the vicinity of the offence at the time and date it was committed. In August, Environmental Enforcement officers paid a visit to Spiring’s address, where the same vehicle was parked on the driveway of the property.
Spiring responded, "no comment" to most of the officer's inquiries, but when questioned about the mattresses and if those had also been fly-tipped, Spiring responded by saying he always fly-tips his rubbish as well as claiming he doesn’t pay any taxes, rates, insurance, or fines.
Councillor Rachael Hunt, cabinet member responsible for environmental enforcement at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “This case is further proof of our unrelenting commitment to prosecute fly-tippers, and I hope it serves as a deterrent to anyone who considers dumping their waste illegally in South Gloucestershire.
“This waste could have been disposed of lawfully at one of our Sort It recycling centres, but instead, it was discarded in the car park of a public house and expected that others would clear it away. There is no excuse for fly-tipping, it has a negative impact on our communities and local environment, and we all have a responsibility to make sure that our waste is disposed of in the appropriate manner.
“We will pursue anyone who dumps their rubbish illegally through the courts, and our award-winning environmental enforcement team has a 100 per cent record of securing successful prosecutions for this type of offence. Our zero-tolerance approach means that anyone who fly-tips in South Gloucestershire is five times more likely to be prosecuted than anywhere else in the country.”
Unwanted goods and household or garden waste can all be disposed of at no cost via the council’s Sort It recycling centres which can be located here. The council encourages anyone who sees illegal fly-tipping to report it by contacting the council’s StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping.
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