A takeaway has been fined thousands of pounds after ignoring warnings from the council and failing to pay a smaller fixed penalty notice. The team behind Drumstick Takeaway, in Northenden, were absent from court as they were prosecuted after failing to supply Manchester Council with waste transfer notes which are required by law.
On two separate occasions, officers visited Drumstick Takeaway on Palatine Road as part of checks to see if businesses in the area had proper waste management arrangements in place. The business failed to provide the officer with any documentation to demonstrate they had adequate arrangements in place.
Council officers contacted the takeaway again and served a legal notice, formally requesting copies of their waste transfer notes covering the previous six months. The business responded and provided paperwork that did not comply with the legal requirements of a waste transfer note.
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The council wrote again to the takeaway, allowing them more time to submit the correct requested documents. No reply was received and they were served with a fixed penalty notice of £300.
Under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, all businesses must keep and retain waste transfer notes to demonstrate proper management of their waste for a minimum of two years and must present these to the council on request. Manchester Council first visited the business in July and August 2021 before issuing the fixed penalty notice later in the year.
After it remained unpaid, the council’s Environmental Crimes team investigated further, with an officer writing to the company on two separate occasions in October 2021. The letters invited Drumstick Takeaway to answer questions under caution to explain why the notice had not been complied with, but no reply was received and the case was referred for prosecution.
Drumstick Takeaway attended previous court hearings in 2022 and the case was adjourned to allow them to provide further evidence regarding their waste management arrangements. Following these hearings, the company sent further paperwork to the council, but this also failed to meet the requirements of the legal notice served.
The company failed to attend the latest hearing last Thursday (January 12) and was found guilty in absence by the court. Drumstick Takeaway was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £500 in costs, plus a victim surcharge of £190.
Coun Lee-Ann Igbon, executive member for vibrant neighbourhoods on Manchester Council, said: “Drumstick Takeaway ignored all of our efforts to contact them and failed to provide the correct waste note, which they are legally obligated to provide the council upon request. The business failed to provide adequate evidence of how they dispose of waste and failed to work with our teams.
"I’d like to pay tribute to our Neighbourhood Compliance team for their thorough and continued efforts to contact the business. If you have information which could help Manchester City Council to catch a fly-tipper, please go to www.manchester.gov.uk/flytipping.”
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