Fly-tipper caught thanks to vigilant farmer

Date published: 16 August 2011

A man has been fined for fly-tipping after a farmer took photographs of the waste and reported it to Bury Council.

When enforcement officers visited Griffe Lane in Bury on January 31, they found that a van-load of rubbish including cardboard, paint tins, plaster and wallpaper had been dumped there.

They also found documents which led them to a shop in Sunnybank that was being renovated – and they saw that the shop had the same distinctive wallpaper on its walls as that found in the country lane.

Mark Shoreman (aged 30), a friend of the shopkeeper’s brother, pleaded guilty to fly-tipping at Bury Magistrates Court on 10 August.

The magistrates fined him £265 plus a victim surcharge of £15 and ordered him to pay £265 towards costs. Shoreman, was ordered to pay at the rate of £15 a week.

Councillor Tony Isherwood, executive member for environment and economy, said: “Cleaning up after fly-tippers costs the council and local landowners thousands of pounds each year and damages our precious green countryside. The council will not tolerate that, and we will prosecute offenders. I would like to thank those who brought this crime to our attention and I would encourage others to report environmental offences so that we can take action.”