A MAN has said he can understand why people might resort to flytipping after he was denied entry to his local dump to get rid of a table and chairs.

Keith Sutton, who lives in Redruth, had loaded the table and four chairs into his work van to take to the household waste recycling centre (HWRC) in Pool.

Mr Sutton has a permit issued by Cornwall Council which allows him to use the Vaxhall Astra van to take items to the HWRC.

But when he turned 60 last year his wife gave him a personalised number plate for the vehicle and he forgot to tell the council of the change.

So when he turned up at the HWRC he was unable to gain entry and empty the wood from his van.

He said: “The permit is for this van – it’s just the registration number that has changed.

“I went to the council offices to get a new permit but they said that I would have to apply online like everyone else.

“I have got the documentation which shows that its the same vehicle but they said they couldn’t change the permit for me and I can’t get to the dump now.

“I just want to abide by the law and not flytip. I will now have to take the wood home and leave it in my van as I don’t have anywhere to store it.

“If I was someone of lesser conviction then I might just pull into a layby and dump it there. This is why there is flytipping – it’s too hard to get rid of your rubbish properly.”

Last week it was reported that Cornwall Council receives around 5,000 reports of flytipping every year and spends almost £400,000 clearing up rubbish which has been dumped.

Mr Sutton said that he would use a trailer attached to his wife’s car to take the furniture to the HWRC but said that he has had problems in the past where he has been unable to take a trailer to the site and rules mean that you can only have one permit per household.

He said he will probably have to wait for a week until the new permit is granted.

In a statement Cornwall Council said: “When we issue a vehicle permit for using a household waste and recycling centre the vehicle registration number is written on the back and needs to match the registration number on the vehicle entering the site. This is noted in the terms and conditions of the scheme and we do ask that we are notified if there are any changes.

“As soon as Mr Sutton applies for a replacement permit to change his details we can issue a new permit. We can assist him on the phone if that would help.

“A trailer over 6ft would also need a permit and only one permit is allowed per household for one vehicle.”