Fly-tipping the remains of a scrapped caravan onto a Wiveliscombe nature reserve has cost a Rockwell Green man an £810 fine at Taunton magistrates court.
Prosecuting for Taunton Deane Borough Council, solicitor Maria Casey said van driver Florin Marcel Lacatusu, aged 33, dumped rubbish – panelling, floor and insulation from a caravan – by a road near Waterrow, not far from Wiveliscombe.
The waste was thrown down a bank near a stream at Pouch Bridge near Boucher’s Cross in the Hurstone Nature Reserve, a site of riverside ancient woodland and meadow.
The court heard through an interpreter that Romanian Mr Lacatusu, of Rockwell Green, Wellington, had admitted the offence, and said he was sorry and would not repeat it. He was fined £600 for fly-tipping, with £150 costs and £60 victim surcharge fee.
Commenting on the case, Cllr James Hunt, Taunton Deane’s environmental services portfolio holder, said: “We live in a beautiful part of the country and we want to keep it that way.
“Let anyone who may be thinking of fly-tipping be in no doubt of the Council’s determination to gather evidence and prosecute cases of this environmental crime. Fines can be hefty, so the message is simple – don’t do it.”
The latest prosecution was part of renewed efforts by all Somerset district councils, backed by Somerset County Council, to deter fly-tipping through new equipment, warning signs, newspaper adverts and further training for enforcement officers,