A Roman Road business has been ordered to pay almost £4,000 by a magistrate, after being caught illegally dumping waste in the street.
Nycon (UK) Ltd, trading as Jakss clothing shop in Roman Road, was ordered by Thames Magistrates Court to pay a £2,500 fine, £1,147.20 to cover the council’s legal costs, and a victim surcharge of £190 at a hearing recently.
While patrolling the area, council environmental services officers found waste in a black bag outside the business’ premise.
Upon investigation of the waste, the officers found evidence that it had originated from the business and issued a £400 fixed penalty notice (FPN) to the business for the offence – the maximum amount allowed under law.
Despite the council sending a reminder letter and a final notice of intent to prosecute, the business continued to ignore the issue and the original FPN remained unpaid, resulting in the prosecution and the court’s order to pay a total of £3837.20.
All businesses in the borough are required by law to be registered with a recognised commercial waste carrier and use the commercial waste facilities provided by these carriers for all their business waste.
The use of household sacks or bin to dispose of commercial waste is illegal.
Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said:
“We will not tolerate businesses using our borough as a dumping ground for waste.
“Fly-tipping not only creates an eyesore and a hazard on our streets but also has a major impact on the public purse, with taxpayers’ cash being spent on clearing up the mess.
“Fly-tipping costs the council over £690,000 per year to clean up – money which could be better spent supporting our residents and improving our borough – rather than cleaning up after negligent businesses.”
Cllr Kabir Hussain, Cabinet Member for Environment and the Climate Emergency, said:
“We are clear – as a council, we will investigate and prosecute any businesses neglecting their legal duty of care to dispose of their commercial waste properly.
“Our borough is for everyone – that means clean streets and green spaces that all residents and visitors can enjoy. We will not permit businesses irresponsibly dodging their duty of care to dump their rubbish in our environment.
“We’re tough on enforcement and made it easier for people to report fly-tipping. We’ve also taken action, writing to thousands of businesses and residents to remind them how to properly dispose of their waste.”
Residents can report fly-tipping through the Find It, Fix It app or visit www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/flytipping
For more information on flytipping, visit our website: www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/flytipping
Posted on Wednesday 17th January 2024