A man who dumped rubbish at a site off Bianca Road, Peckham has been slapped with a £480 fine and ordered to pay £3,777 in costs, according to the Environment Agency.
A report from the government agency said Brian Ward, 21, of The Gardens, Bessbrook, Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates Court on Friday, June 17, to three charges of unlawfully depositing waste.
People had accessed the site by breaking the locks and taking up residence there. The rubbish was dumped when the residents were evicted, according to the agency.
A second man, Patrick Ward, 50, of Dobsons Way, Bessbrook, Newry, also pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly causing the unlawful depositing of waste at an illegal waste site at Herringham Road, Charlton. He was fined £480 and ordered to pay a £48 victim charge.
The Environment Agency says Patrick Ward, 50, was rumbled after CCTV caught a vehicle owned by him laden with rubbish entering a site and then emerging without the waste.
A second Patrick Ward, 26, of St. Marys Street, Newry also pleaded guilty to three charges of knowingly causing waste to be unlawfully deposited at an illegal waste site at Pensbury Place, Wandsworth, London. He was also fined £480.
The prosecutions were made possible by the Environment Agency’s Operation Angola, an ongoing investigation into people who fly-tip in the South East of England.
Sean Coleman, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “These prosecutions along with others from Operation Angola, sends out a strong message that we will search out and prosecute anyone found to be dumping waste illegally.
“We’re pleased that our hard work has resulted in securing these convictions. Operation Angola has now secured 20 convictions.
“Illegally depositing waste at illegal waste sites without regard for the environment and the law blights communities and undermines the legitimate businesses that follow the rules.”
Southwark is among the worst local authorities in the country for fly-tipping – out of more than 300 – according to government data.
The borough ranks eleventh per 1,000 people among all 333 local authorities in the UK, with 21,386 incidents from April 2020-March 2021.
Under Operation Angola, since 2017, Environment Agency investigators and partners either have or are currently investigating or prosecuting a total of 23 offenders.
The Environmental Services Association has estimated that illegal waste activity costs over £1 billion annually in England.