A man has been fined over a giant trash mountain outside his home.
Raymond Wortley admitted he stored waste illegally without having the required permit.
He pleaded guilty to operating the site without permission and for also allowing others to fly-tip there.
The 75-year-old of Crowland, Lincolnshire, burned some of the waste, but left his gate open to allow others to dump waste there.
His mountain of trash included tree cuttings, plastics, treated wood and construction waste which was left at Wortley’s home garden between October 23, 2019 and June 2 last year.
LincolnshireLive reports officers visited the site in October 2019 after reports of material being burnt On arrival the smoke from the fire was so thick they could not see each other.
Metal sheeting, aerosols, ceramic pots and plastic were all found on the burn pile.
But at the time, Wortley only had permission to burn green waste produced at his site.
Surveillance was carried out between February 2020 and June to July 2020.
And officers noted tipper trucks bringing waste to the location on numerous occasions during this time.
They were told by drivers that a fee of £20 was being charged per load to bring waste to the site.
Wortley was told on several occasions that he was not allowed to run the site in the way he was doing. Despite this, he continued to do so.
Further visits were made to the site in July 2020. An attempt to regularise some of the activities had been made with the green waste now being shredded but this still required a permit.
Additional visits were made in February 2021 and again in October that year.
Despite further warnings telling him to stop, Wortley continued to operate from the site with mixed waste including carpets, plastic and household waste being found.
In November 2021, the site was inspected via drone and found to be still operating as a waste transfer station without any permits.
Wortley was sentenced at Peterborough Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.
He pleaded guilty to operating a waste facility without a permit contrary to Regulation 12 and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016.
The accused also pleaded guilty to knowingly permitting others to deposit waste contrary to the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
In mitigation, it was explained that Wortley had misunderstood the scope of the regulations and had made efforts to comply.
He recently cleared the site and was in the process of making an application for planning permission.
Wortley was fined £21,693.50 which included the avoided permitting costs and financial benefit he had gained by running the illegal site.
He was ordered to pay a contribution to prosecution costs of £10,000 and a victim surcharge of £181.
Peter Stark, enforcement team leader for the Environment Agency said: “We take illegal waste activity very seriously and will take the necessary action to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.
“Wortley was advised to stop on numerous occasions but continued to disregard environmental law.
"He is now receiving the consequences of those actions."
