Street cleaner sleuth found evidence to prosecute fly-tippers

Two people have been prosecuted for fly-tipping after a council street cleaner found evidence from household waste dumped in the middle of the street.

Tameside Magistrates’ Court heard that the street cleaner came across the waste on Wellington Road, Ashton, on January 4.

The cleaner, who works in Tameside Council’s operations and greenspace team, photographed the waste and searched it for evidence before reporting it to the council’s waste enforcement team.

The waste was traced to Jennifer Seabright and Steven Corbett, of Chippendale Place, Ashton, who were offered the opportunity to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).

Ms Seabright responded to the correspondence to say that they had paid someone £20 to remove the waste, but she did not provide details of a licensed waste carrier – nor did she provide any further evidence or information to back this up. Further, she declined to pay the FPN.

Both Ms Seabright and Mr Corbett attended court on October 11 and were found guilty of fly-tipping. In mitigation they said that they regularly take their waste to the tip, and they complained that the bin they were provided by the council wasn’t adequate.

Accordingly, each was fined £120 plus the victim surcharge of £48. In addition, they were ordered to pay £219.50 each to cover the costs of clearing the waste. Overall, Ms Seabright and Mr Corbett each received a financial penalty of £387.50 and a criminal record.

A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “It’s good to see we were able to hold those responsible for dumping this waste accountable thanks to the vigilance of the street cleaner – who didn’t just clear up the waste but who also photographed it and searched it for evidence.

"This highlights the close working between our street cleansing team and the enforcement team - over the past 18 months we have trained up a number of frontline staff to gather evidence, boosting our enforcement resources and results like this case show it is having a positive impact. 

“These prosecutions are the 11th and 12th of the year so far, there have also been 287 Fixed Penalty Notices served for waste related offences.

"There is no excuse for fly-tipping, it blights our communities and costs thousands of pounds a year to clear – this is public money that could instead be spent on vital frontline services like caring for vulnerable children and adults. We will always take enforcement action where we find evidence of those responsible and we’re catching an increasing number of offenders.”