A FLY tipper has been fined after he was caught dumping five loads of builders' waste near Fordingbridge.

Evidence of an address was left on some of the rubbish dumped by Gary John Cooper. As a result, the 55-year-old was traced by council officials and prosecuted.

Cooper left rubble and plasterboard in land belonging to a farmer in Hale, which lies north of the New Forest town. He also dumped a further load in Rockbourne.

The defendant, who lives in Oaktree Field, Salisbury, has now been fined £1,200 and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work after the New Forest District Council prosecution.

He was convicted of two counts of fly tipping at Southampton Magistrates' Court in May, and returned to the court for sentence on June 25.

The court heard 'address evidence' was left on some of the waste. In addition, Cooper was seen driving away after fly tipping by an enforcement officer who had been sitting in a marked police car looking at previous loads of waste dumped.

Councillor Alison Hoare, the district council's portfolio holder for the environment, said fly tipping can harm the forest's wildlife.

“Fly tipping is relatively rare in the district but when it does happen we will not hesitate to take action," she said.

"This prosecution sends a clear message to anyone who thinks they can get away with fly tipping in the New Forest.

"We will investigate and we work with police to take offenders to court.

“Dumping waste not only damages the look of the forest, but can also be extremely harmful to wildlife.

"I would urge anyone seeing any activity that they suspect may be fly tipping to report it to us.”

Robin Edwards, regional director at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) South East, which represents landowners and farmers, said: “The CLA welcomes any move which helps tackle the blight of fly tipping, and it is encouraging to see recent convictions in the area.

“It is vital that more prosecutions are brought forward successfully to encourage people to do the right thing and dispose of their rubbish through proper legal channels. Hampshire County Council with its partners, including the CLA, recently launched a fly-tipping strategy putting extra resources into the fight, which we also welcome.

“Fly-tipping is a menace and in many parts of the county the number of incidents is increasing year-on-year.

"It is not a victimless crime. It’s a vicious cycle of costly clean-ups by landowners and farmers who personally bear the burden of waste crime on their land and the threat of prosecution.

“The public play an important role in helping identify and catch offenders and also ensuring that anybody who disposes of waste for them is a registered waste carrier by checking the Environment Agency register. Otherwise they could face a fine if someone else fly tips their waste.

“Therefore, we would urge people to report any incidents or suspicious behaviour to their local authority, with pictures if possible.”

Fly tipping can be reported to New Forest District Council at www.newforest.gov.uk to customer.services@nfdc.gov.uk or by calling 023 8028 5000.

Communications Manager

Fosse House

East Anton Court

Icknield Way

Andover

SP10 5RG

T: 01264 313434 M: 07702 926916

F: 01264 369196 E: mike.sims@cla.org.uk