Last updated 10:50, Thursday, 04 September 2008

THREE men have been slapped with fines of more than £3,800 for dumping waste which could have a massive environmental impact.
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Damian Craig is captured fly tipping as part of Operation Ding Dong 3 REF: 0448378

THREE men have been slapped with fines of more than £3,800 for dumping waste which could have a massive environmental impact.
The council hope this will act as a warning to anyone thinking of fly-tipping.
The trio were caught in the act with a hidden camera by Barrow Borough Council’s enviro hit squad as part of Operation Ding Dong.
They were filmed dumping rubbish at a point a Special Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) at the end of Avon Street, Walney earlier this year.
Damian Craig, 28, of Broadway and Ryan Burns, 25, of Long Bank, both Barrow, admitted one count of dumping rubbish on February 28 and 29 respectively.
Craig threw eight tyres out of a van, which rolled down onto the salt marshes and Burns dumped rubble and garden waste.
Terry Palmer, 51, of King Alfred Street, Walney, pleaded guilty to depositing waste without a licence, handling waste without taking reasonable measures and being the person engaged in transporting controlled waste on February 29.
He fly-tipped bags of commercial waste.
The three appeared before Furness Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Their cases were not linked but were dealt with in court at the same time.
South Lakeland District Council senior solicitor, Mrs Sandra Fenwick, explained how the three were filmed fly-tipping at the Borough hot-spot.
Palmer, a self-painter employed painter and decorator, who runs Brushstokes, was slapped with the biggest fine.
He was ordered to pay £1,000 and £800 in court costs.
Palmer’s told the court that he wasn’t aware he needed a licence but had now applied for one.
He said he felt he had been made a scapegoat as he spent a lot of time cleaning up rubbish dumped by other people at the same site.
Unemployed dad-of-two Craig was fined £400 and £800 prosecution costs.
He said in his defence that he had left the tyres for the crab fishermen who often used them. He said when they hadn’t he had removed them in his own car.
Burns was fined £300 and ordered to pay a contribution of £500 towards the prosecution costs.
He told magistrates he now realised he shouldn’t have done it and would never do it again.
All three also had to pay a £15 victim surcharge.
Gary Ormondroyd, the council’s chief environmental officer, said: “Hopefully this will send out a clear message to all those considering of disposing of their rubbish illegally.
“CCTV equipment is now regularly used by the council’s enforcement team in its quest to combat fly-tipping and other enviro-crimes throughout the borough.”
Environmental officer for the Environment Agency, Adam Larbalestier, added: “Fly-tipping leads to the attraction of rodents, flies and human health issues depending on what has been dumped.
“Avon Street is Barrow’s number one hot spot for illegal dumping. Things like tyres and plastics don’t degrade and can be around for years causing ecological problems.
“This area is an important recourse to protect.”
South Walney and Piel Channel is a SSSI due to the way it was formed and the habitats that have been created as a result. Walney and the surrounding inter-tidal zones are rich in environmental features that have attracted the attention of conservationists worldwide.