A Bristol businessman has been prosecuted by the Environment Agency after one of his sites was used for illegal fly tipping. He entered into an agreement with a man who promised to clear the site of illegal waste, in lieu of rent. Instead of alleviating the problem, the man began to operate an illegal waste business and collected refrigerators and freezers to profit from their scrap value.
A letter sent by the Environment Agency warning of prosecution was ignored. When officers from the Agency visited the location again, the amount of illegal waste on the site had increased and continued to do so over the following months. The landowner was prosecuted and appeared before Bristol magistrates. He pleaded guilty to the offence under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 of permitting the site to be used for the deposit, storage, processing and disposal of kitchen appliances. He was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay the prosecution’s costs of £2,199.
Despite being aware of the activities that were taking place on his land, and regardless of repeated warnings by the Environment Agency, the landlord did not terminate his agreement with the tenant. The tenant was also prosecuted separately and received a four-week prison sentence, which was suspended for eighteen months. He was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,000.
You may be criminally liable if someone carries out illegal activities on your property. Contact us for advice on all environmental law matters..