A Truro man has pleaded guilty to a fly tipping offence despite denying having illegally disposed of any waste himself.

Darren Longar, 36, of Cornish Crescent in Truro, pleaded guilty at Truro Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, December 21, to being in a position to control the use of a vehicle with regards to fly tipping.

It was alleged that a vehicle he owned had been used to carry out the fly tipping in a country lane at Illogan in March.

The offence relates to the unlawful deposit of waste from a motor vehicle, whereby the person who controls or is in a position to control the vehicle shall be treated as knowingly causing the waste to be deposited, whether or not they gave instructions for it to be done.

Mr Longar was ordered to pay costs in full along with a fine and a victim surcharge totalling £1149.70. Truro magistrates stated: “Fly tipping is a serious offence and one that the court takes very seriously.”

The area in Illogan was known to Cornwall Council community protection officers as a local fly-tipping hot spot and was being monitored.

The parish council reported the fly-tip to community protection officers, after they recognised the area was being used as a dumping ground with waste being cleared on a weekly basis. Cornwall Council receive around 4,000 reports of fly tipping on public and private land a year, and collecting and disposing of the waste costs taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.

Lynn Carter from Cornwall Council’s Public Protection service said: “Cornwall Council continues to work hard to tackle issues of fly-tipping. Fly-tipping is not only unsightly but costs the council thousands of pounds each year to clear up the mess. We will continue to respond, investigate and, where evidence is found, we will take the appropriate enforcement action. We are pleased that the court’s comments in summing up supported Public Protection in tackling fly tipping and the level of fine and awarding full costs reinforced this message.”

Cornwall Council cabinet member for communities Geoff Brown said: “This decision sends out a clear message that Cornwall Council will do everything possible to challenge fly-tipping and when taken to court this irresponsible action can prove extremely costly. It is also important that people paying contractors to dispose of waste undertake the necessary checks to ensure that the contractor is permitted to transport the waste and that the contractor provides the customer with waste transfer notes to ensure that their legal duties are complete.”