TWO friends Herefordshire have been fined for illegally disposing of waste during the coronavirus pandemic.

David Boorman, aged 40, of Elton Drive, Ledbury, pleaded guilty to six charges of fly tipping and failing to secure the transfer of waste to an authorised person.

Craig Bowcott, 42, of Woodward Avenue, Hereford, failed to appear at the initial hearing at Hereford Magistrates Court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

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Bowcott was arrested by police last Thursday (August 3) and held in custody before appearing at Kidderminster Magistrates Court the following day. 

He also pleaded guilty to six charges of fly tipping and securing the transfer of waste to an authorised person.

In October 2020, Bowcott hired a vehicle from a local rental company, while during the same time, waste collection adverts appeared on Facebook under a false name.

Officers from Herefordshire Council’s community protection team linked the false profile to Boorman and Bowcott and conducted a thorough investigation.

Vehicle tracking devices were used to trace journeys undertaken by the pair, where regular journeys to a storage unit in Malvern were found.

Officers discovered a storage container rented in Bowcott’s name which was full of household waste and collected from households around Herefordshire. Waste was also found dumped around and on top of the container.

Boorman and Bowcott did not pay their storage bill, nor returned to collect the waste. Further waste was found dumped in a gateway in Sellack, which officers searched through and found more evidence of a waste collection undertaken by the pair.

Boorman was handed a 10 week community order with the requirement that he wears an electronic tag between 7pm and 7am. He was also ordered to pay clean-up costs of £1,032 and a victim surcharge of £95.

Bowcott, meanwhile, was fined £369, and told to pay court costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £37 respectively. 

Marc Willimont, head of public protection at Herefordshire Council, said: “Cases like this demonstrate how our enforcement officers leave no stone unturned in an investigation and never give up on a fly tipper prosecution, even when it took nearly 18 months to bring the second offender to justice.

"Needless to say, Herefordshire has a zero tolerance for this sort of anti-social behaviour and will always prosecute fly tippers.”

The maximum penalty for fly tipping is a £50,000 fine and/or five years imprisonment.

All householders have a duty of care to ensure that the waste they produce is disposed of correctly and have documentation to show who they have transferred the waste to, with record kept for at least two years. 

Residents can report fly tipping to Herefordshire Council’s Community Protection Team by calling 01432 261761 or online at www.herefordshire.gov.uk/flytipping