Wiltshire Council successfully prosecutes Calne woman for fly-tipping

As part of its continued zero tolerance approach to tackling fly-tipping, Wiltshire Council has successfully prosecuted a Calne woman who had dumped waste on a public footpath adjacent to Bank Row in the town.

Ms Lilly Bence, of Bank Row, Calne, was ordered to pay £822.72 in fines, costs and compensation after pleading guilty to fly-tipping during a hearing at Swindon Magistrates Court on Friday 22 March 2024. 

This case dates back to 26 June 2023, when the council received a complaint that waste had been deposited on the public footpath. When Environmental Enforcement Officers visited the site, they observed several open shopping bags, full of waste that was spilling on to the public footpath.

The bags were full of used nappies, food waste, cardboard, drink cans, food packaging and other assorted waste. Food waste and packaging was also found directly on pavement, under the bags.

The officers traced the waste back to Ms Bence, and when interviewed she acknowledged that most of the waste was hers and that she had deposited it on the path. The investigation showed that she had also received three waste contamination warning tags attached to her bin, a warning letter and visit by a Waste Officer prior to the fly-tipping incident. 

Ms Bence was issued with a £400 fixed penalty notice (FPN) for depositing the waste on the public footpath, but she failed to pay the fine and this led to the prosecution.

Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Highways and Street Scene, said: "We are focused on tackling fly-tipping in Wiltshire, and as part of our Business Plan commitment and our award-winning We're Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign, we have invested an extra £150,000 a year into tackling environmental crime.

"This investment has so far seen a 125% increase in fly-tipping prosecutions and a 118% increase in fixed penalty notices in the past year, which shows that we will take all legal options available to us wherever we find fly-tipping.

"In this case, the site where Ms Bence dumped her waste was a fly-tipping hotspot and has attracted a number of complaints from local residents, businesses, and the town council over recent years. Had she stored her bins in the correct location after collection and acted on the warnings from our officers, she would not have found herself in this situation. She also had the opportunity to pay a £400 fixed penalty notice and avoid the court action but failed to do so. 

"If anyone spots fly-tipping in Wiltshire, I'd urge them to report it to us using MyWilts and our officers will investigate and take action."

This case hit the local and national press in August 2023, when Ms Bence claimed she had been issued the FPN because her recycling bins were full of beer cans deposited by people visiting the Calne bike meet on 29 July 2023, which meant she had to leave waste next to her bins. However, the fly-tipping incident took place on 26 June 2023, and the Calne bike meet was a month later, on 29 July 2023.

To find out how to report fly-tipping in Wiltshire and to report it, plus more about the WTF campaign and how people who report fly-tipping could get a reward, people should go to the Wiltshire Council website.