A Bristol shopkeeper has been ordered to pay £564 for waste offences after packaging and receipts traced back to his business were discovered in a fly-tip in South Gloucestershire. Dana Ali, 31, of Vining Walk in Easton, pleaded guilty to the offence of failing in his duty of care when he appeared at Bristol Magistrates' Court on December 12.
According to South Gloucestershire Council, the court heard that in March 2022 a fly tip was discovered at Conham Hill in Hanham, a local nature reserve which had become a well-known hotspot for flytipping. The waste consisted of two piles of cardboard and packaging materials in a wooded area a short distance from the road.
After investigating the waste, the council said its environmental enforcement officers found labels and receipts relating to ‘Bargainz’ shop on Church Road in Redfield. The shop’s owner Dana Ali was later interviewed under caution and identified the waste in the fly-tip as the packaging that had arisen from stacking the shelves to open his shop.
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Ali claimed he was approached by an unknown man who offered to remove the waste and packaging for £70, the council said. He said he agreed and assumed the waste would be disposed of properly but did not ask for or have any details of the man.
As a result of failing in his duty of care, Ali has been ordered to pay a fine of £230, along with £300 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge, making a total of £564. Councillor Rachael Hunt, cabinet member responsible for environmental enforcement at South Gloucestershire Council, which brought the prosecution to court, said: “This case saw a large amount of commercial packaging waste fly-tipped near a public footpath in a local nature reserve, without any consideration of the impact it would have on the environment.
“We all have a responsibility to dispose of our waste in a responsible and lawful manner. If you hire a third party to dispose of your waste, always ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken. Failing to carry out these simple checks could mean you are found liable and face prosecution if the waste is illegally deposited.
“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. Our award-winning environmental enforcement team has a 100 per cent record of securing successful prosecutions for this type of offence and if you fail in your duty of care and allow rubbish to be fly-tipped here, you can expect to be caught and brought before the courts.”
In South Gloucestershire, unwanted goods and household or garden waste can all be disposed of at no cost via the council’s Sort It recycling centres. Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by contacting the council’s StreetCare helpdesk at 01454 868000 or emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk.
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