In an incident captured on CCTV, a registered owner of a vehicle was prosecuted and ordered to pay over £600 after a passenger committed an act of illegal fly-tipping.
Hull City Council brought the case against Mr Vorel Voicu of Queens Road, Hull, after CCTV caught a passenger fly-tipping waste from a vehicle he owned. The incident took place on Mayfield Street, Hull, in May 2023.
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, where offences are committed from vehicles the council writes to the registered keeper, requiring them to confirm who was in the vehicle at the time of the offence.
After failing to respond, the waste was cleared by the council’s Streetcare Team and enforcement action was taken against Mr Voicu.
Fly-tipping is defined as the ‘illegal deposit of any waste onto land that does not have a licence to accept it. Anyone found guilty of fly-tipping faces receiving a substantial fine.
If the fine is not paid, attempts to communicate are ignored or the council must remove waste, the case is passed on to the council’s legal team for prosecution.
Prosecution for fly-tipping can result in an unlimited fine, imprisonment, or both.
Mr Vorel Voicu of Queens Road, Hull, attended Hull Magistrates’ Court on Friday 15 March 2024, and pleaded guilty to the offence contrary to section 33(1)(1) Environmental Protection Act 1990.
He was ordered to pay £660, comprising a fine, council costs and a victim surcharge.
Councillor Charles Quinn, Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: “Fly-tipping makes our neighbourhoods look messy, is extremely harmful to the environment, and causes unnecessary clean-up costs for the council.
“This successful prosecution shows that the council takes fly-tipping very seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those responsible.
“We urge residents to dispose of their waste in the correct way using our accessible services, schemes, and household waste centres across the city. We also encourage residents to report those who do not dispose of their waste legally.”
Services and schemes the council provide to dispose of waste include:
- For large items, residents can use the bulky household collection scheme. Households are eligible for one free collection per year of up to five items which can include cookers, dishwashers, fridges, mattresses, sofas etc.
- There are three household waste and recycling centres located across the city, open every day from 10am – 5pm, which residents can use free of charge. All are modern facilities, designed to maintain and improve recycling within the city.
- White electrical goods in working order can also be donated and/or collected free of charge to be sold at a discounted price in the Reuse Electrical Shop – a joint initiative with Dove House Hospice, ERYC, and FCC Environment – which aims to keep white goods in use for as long as possible.
For further information on services provided for residents to recycle and dispose of household waste, visit Bins and recycling – Hull. Alternatively, for more information on commercial waste and recycling collection, visit Commercial waste and recycling collection service | Hull.
For further information regarding disposal and recycling of household waste, email loveyourstreet@hullcc.gov.uk.
Anyone with information about people responsible for fly-tipping in Hull should report it via the fly-tipping page on the Hull City Council website, or by calling 300 300.
To help identify fly-tippers from CCTV footage, visit Caught on camera | Hull.
