Men from London and Cambridge slapped with fines for fly-tipping following investigations in Hunstanton and Barton Bendish

Two people have been fined for illegally dumping waste following investigations in West Norfolk.

A man from West London was using his employer’s van to unload items when a resident from Barton Bendish challenged him.

Dissatisfied with the man’s excuse, the resident took details of the vehicle when the culprit drove off and left the objects behind.

An enforcement officer from West Norfolk Council later used those details to find the company that owned the van and it identified their employee as the person responsible.

After being interviewed under caution, he admitted the fly-tipping offence and was issued with a fixed penalty notice, which he promptly paid, reducing the charge to £200.

Meanwhile, a man from Cambridge was also penalised after dumping household waste and bric-a-brac at the community centre’s charity bring banks in Valentine Road, Hunstanton.

A council CCTV operator caught the occupants of the car, its registration and the bags of waste being taken from the boot and placed on the ground next to the charity banks.

This led to a resident answering some questions which identified that a member of her family had taken the waste from her home.

An enforcement officer interviewed the person involved and they confirmed that they knew that there was a Household Waste Recycling Centre at Heacham 1.6 miles away as they would drive past it on their way home, but thought that they may have to pay £5 to use the site, so they dumped the waste “as it may be useful”.

However, proper use of the Household Waste Recycling Centre is free and the man from Cambridge has now had to pay a fixed penalty notice of £200.

Cllr Sandra Squire, portfolio holder for environment and coastal at West Norfolk Council, said: “It does not matter whether you are local to West Norfolk or from London or Cambridge, we are determined to tackle those who damage the local environment by fly-tipping their waste.

“There can be simply no excuse for tipping waste either next to charity bring banks or on the side of the road next to a farmer’s field in our lovely countryside.

“I am really grateful to the West Norfolk resident who did the right thing of challenging wrongdoing and providing us with details of the van.

“The work of our CCTV operator shows how much they care about protecting West Norfolk from all sorts of harm.

“The tenacious work by our enforcement officers in clearing the fly tipping and investigating cases, even if they take us out of the county, shows how seriously we take our duty to protect West Norfolk.”

Waste and recycling officer Barry Brandford is encouraging others to report any incidents by calling 01553 616200 or visiting the website here.

“We will always look to investigate fly-tipping on public land,” he said.

“Where a vehicle is used to fly-tip, colour, make and registration is really important to help us trace it to the owner.

“CCTV, smart doorbells and phone camera images are also used to identify those involved in fly-tipping.”