Wednesbury pub owner's £2k bill over dumped bottles
A pub owner has been handed a court bill of more than £2,000 after empty drinks bottles from his premises were dumped by fly-tippers in a Walsall street.
Businessman Daniel Davies, aged 32, who employs a manager to run The George, in Wednesbury, admitted two offences relating to the discovery of bottles, letters, black bin bags and general waste in Woodwards Road, Pleck, in May last year.
Mr Dominic Patouchas, prosecuting on behalf of Walsall Council, told yesterday's hearing at the town's magistrates court that Davies had failed to produce his waste transfer notice, a licence issued to businesses to allow rubbish to be disposed of correctly.
He told the court that staff visited the scene in Pleck following complaints from residents.
"In this case we are not talking about someone who has been fly-tipping. We are talking about the defendant not taking appropriate steps to prevent other people from fly-tipping.
"He also failed to to get a waste transfer notice which allows persons disposing of controlled waste to do so responsibly," Mr Patouchas said.
He said a council crew found waste dumped in Woodwards Road including spirit bottles, beer cans and empty cardboard boxes. He said there were letters with the address of The George pub.
Further inquiries resulted in the manager explaining to the council that provision for rubbish collection had been stopped and that Davies was responsible for arranging the contracts.
Mr Patouchas said Davies was interviewed about the matter, but he failed to produce his waste transfer document. He said the details of a contractor given to them by Davies turned out to be man who lived opposite him, while inquiries on a second contractor trading as PAG Rubbish & Scrap drew a blank.
Representing himself Davies, of Barnes Hill, Northfield, Birmingham, said: "I didn't know what a waste disposal document was. I was used to using a company from Birmingham and I tried to get them to do it. We had contract problems with that."
Davies was fined £500 for each offence, one of depositing without an environmental permit controlled waste on land in Woodwards Road; and another of failing to take measures applicable to him in accordance with conditions contained within a current waste disposal management permit. He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,193 and a victims' surcharge of £50 by the bench.
