Two men from the South East have been fined a combined total of almost £1,700 for illegally dumping items such as furniture, a mattress and black bags full of rubbish, here in Bristol.
Azhar Beelontally, 22, of Josephine Avenue, Tadworth, Surrey and Rayhan Chowdhury, 21 of Coote Road, Dagenham, London, pleaded guilty to fly-tipping following the discovery of the waste on Station Road in Patchway. Beelontally was fined £1,015 and Chowdhury was ordered to pay £677, with both having to cover the additional £403 in costs when they appeared in Bristol Magistrates Court.
The waste was cleared by South Gloucestershire Council and evidence was found relating to a nearby address in Brookfield Road, previously linked to the pair. Both men admitted fly-tipping the black bags in Spring 2021 after being formally interviewed by the council's Envirocrime team during the investigation.
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The site of the fly-tip was found to be half a mile from the address at Brookfield Road and within half a mile of Little Stoke Sort It recycling centre. Beelontally stated that he knew he should have recycled the waste and that he could have taken it to the local Sort It Centre.
Cabinet Member for Communities and Local Place, Cllr Rachael Hunt said: “I hope this case serves as a deterrent to anyone who considers dumping their waste illegally. This pair could have driven a short distance to their local Sort It recycling centre and disposed of their waste lawfully, but instead chose to dump it by the side of the road without consideration to the hazard it could cause others.
“We have a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping here in South Gloucestershire and we have a 100% success rate for securing convictions for this type of offence. Anyone who dumps waste illegally here is five times more likely to be prosecuted than anywhere else in the country. Perpetrators can be certain that we will be tireless in our efforts to track them down and ensure justice is served.”
The council has urged the public to familiarise themselves with the locations of its Sort IT Centres and asks residents who see illegal fly tipping to report it by contacting the StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing streetcare@southglos.gov.uk or visiting the website here.
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