Landscape Gardener Fined and Tagged in Latest Effort to Combat Fly Tipping

[Hereford Voice]

Herefordshire Council’s Community Protection Team have secured another prosecution as part of the ongoing fight against fly tipping.

Mr Ashley Jones (25), of Stone Street, Hereford, appeared at Hereford Magistrates court on 3 June 2024, where he pleaded guilty to a total of ten charges of fly tipping and failing to secure the transfer of waste to an authorised person.

The court heard how in June 2022, Jones embarked on a fly tipping spree that would last eight months. Jones, who was trading as ‘AJ gardening & landscaping’ used Facebook to advertise gardening and landscaping work where he provided separate quotes for removal of waste created as part of his work.

Officers discovered that general waste found in a field in Bosbury had been dumped by Jones on 27 June 2022 following a paid removal of waste organised on Facebook.

Following this, large tipper loads of gardening and landscaping waste were found fly tipped in fields and roadsides of Grafton Lane and Merry Hill Lane. Officers searched the fly tipping and traced the waste back to customers who had employed Jones to carry out landscape gardening waste and who had paid him to remove the waste. Jones failed to co-operate with the investigation and failed to produce any waste transfer notes to demonstrate any legitimate waste disposals.

While the case was being prepared for prosecution, further large fly tips of landscaping waste appeared on the roadside of Bullingham lane and in a gateway off Gatehouse road in Hereford. Officers were once again able to trace this waste back to Jones who had removed the waste as part of his landscaping business. Jones again refused to co-operate with the investigation and a second prosecution case was submitted to the courts.

Jones was handed an 18 month community order, required to attend 25 Rehabilitation activity days, attend a 12 month mental health treatment plan, ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and pay fines and costs totalling £2414. The maximum penalty for fly tipping is a £50,000 fine and/or 5 years imprisonment.

Charles Yarnold, Herefordshire Council’s Head of Public Protection, said: “Fly-tipping is a deeply selfish act that continues to blight our beautiful county and costs the taxpayer money to clean up. Nobody should have to put up with waste strewn across green spaces simply because one individual thinks they can make a quick profit.”

“Once again our Community Protection team have secured another successful prosecution against a Herefordshire fly-tipper. We are pleased with the court's decision and hope this acts as a deterrent to others.”

All householders have a duty of care to ensure that the waste they produce is disposed of correctly and they have documentation to show who they have transferred the waste to and keep those records for at least 2 years.

Mr Yarnold added: “I would like to remind residents looking to get rid of waste to ensure the person or trader offering the service is doing so legitimately and is registered with the Environment Agency. Make sure you get the correct paperwork, including an invoice or receipt for the waste with contact details.”