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Fined for fly tipping furniture

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A Charnock Richard man who dumped furniture on a country lane claimed he’d no money to take it to the tip, a court was told.

Lee Stock, 41, of Preston Road, Charnock Richard, pleaded guilty to fly tipping when he appeared at Chorley Magistrates Court in a prosecution brought by Chorley Council.

He was fined £320, ordered to pay £500 costs plus a £32 victim surcharge.

The court was told that a pick-up truck loaded with furniture had been seen driving along German Lane, Charnock Richard, which is a dead end, and had returned without the furniture. Two sofas, a mattress and an armchair were later found dumped at the end of the country lane opposite the entrance to a sand quarry.

Photographs of the fly tipped goods were sent to the police who then contacted Chorley Council and, following investigations, Stock was interviewed under caution at the council offices.

He admitted he had fly tipped the items saying he did not have any money for the tip. He said he had not received any money for transporting the waste and had done it as a favour. He admitted he knew it was illegal to fly tip, and said he had made a stupid mistake and apologised for his actions.

Councillor Paul Walmsley, who oversees fly tipping issues at Chorley Council, said: “It was thanks to vigilant members of the public, who saw the vehicle, made a note of its number and sent photos of the fly tipped furniture to the police, that this prosecution came about.

“We will just not tolerate fly tipping, there is no excuse for it. It is unsightly, illegal, dangerous, can be hazardous to the health of people and wildlife and it pollutes land and the waterways. It’s costing our council taxpayers around £90,000 to deal with, and that money could be better spent on other things.

“We recently increased the level of fine we can impose on culprits to £400 for small scale fly tipping and for larger incidents such as this, we will pursue prosecution through the courts.

“We’d always urge people to be our eyes and ears and report incidences of fly tipping to us – it can be done online at chorley.gov.uk and done anonymously.”

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