Dumped storge heaters, cardboard boxes and plastic packaging near Lee Lane.
Man ordered to pay £3k and narrowly avoids prison sentence for fly-tip
A man from West Yorkshire has been ordered to pay almost £3k after pleading guilty to fly-tipping a large amount of waste spread over two locations near Romsey earlier this year.
Ryan Lelliott of South Kirkby, Pontefract, dumped storge heaters, cardboard boxes and plastic packaging near Lee Lane on 11 February 2022.
His vehicle registration was picked up by a covert camera installed by Test Valley Borough Council. Officers were then able to track down the defendant and invited him to an interview under caution, which he refused. But he did admit in an email to the council that he was the person in control of the vehicle at the time of the offence.
At Southampton Magistrates’ Court on 30 November 2022, Lelliott stated that he was self-employed and running late and couldn’t offload the heaters for the next day.
He said that he had Googled landfill sites and left the waste near Lee Lane in the hope that someone would take it to the nearby site.
Lelliott was ordered to pay an £1,800 fine reduced from £2,700 for an early guilty plea, a £180 victim surcharge and £935 costs.
Portfolio holder for environmental services, Councillor Nick Adams-King, said: “This was a great result made possible thanks to the proactive work of officers. This was a sizeable fly-tip and the judge made clear that it was a serious offence which meant the defendant narrowly avoided a prison sentence.
“If you’re thinking of dumping waste in Test Valley then just remember that you never know if there is a camera about. And if we catch you in the act, then you will have your day in the dock.
“Fly-tipping is an utterly despicable crime, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that every single person who flouts the law is held to account and punished for their actions.”