A GIANT teddy bear, part of a bed and boxes of paperwork were among the items dumped in woodland by a Bromyard man.

Bungling Steven Biddle was paid to get rid of the items by a woman in Leominster after he advertised his waste removal services on Facebook.

The 22-year-old agreed a price of £55 to get rid of the waste, but he did so illegally by dumping it in the woodland near Pershore, more than 30 miles from the north Herefordshire town.

He was found out when police searching the paperwork that had been dumped found personal details of the woman, who then put officers onto Biddle.

The defendant, of Open Fields, Bromyard, was ordered to pay almost £1,000 in fines and costs.

"Most of the waste fly tipped in this case could have been properly disposed of at any local landfill site free of charge," said Sharon Casswell, client services manager at Wychavon District Council, which brought the prosecution to court.

"This kind of action is irresponsible and indefensible and we will not hesitate to prosecute offenders.

"Flytipping not only damages the environment but costs landowners and the taxpayer money.

"Wychavon spends about £50,000 a year on enforcement and clean up costs related to flytipping.

"That is money which could be better spent elsewhere."

Worcester Magistrates' Court was told officers at Wychavon began investigating after receiving reports of rubbish being dumped at Millennium Woods at Stoulton in July last year.

When they visited the site they found three separate piles of waste containing items including storage units, tools, parts of a bed, boxes of paperwork, a mattress and a giant teddy bear.

Having tracked her down from personal details found in the paperwork, police interviewed the owner of the waste who said she was in the process of moving house and needed a large amount of rubbish disposed of.

She had found Biddle on Facebook where he had been advertising his waste removal services.

He admitted breaching Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Mark Sheward, defending, told the court Biddle was unemployed but moved rubbish for friends.

He added Biddle had intended to dispose of the waste properly but had received a call from a family member who was ill and dumped the rubbish so he could rush off to hospital to visit them.

He said Biddle took full responsibility for his actions, had never done it before and would not do so again.

Magistrates fined Biddle £183, ordered him to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £765 in costs.