A tipper driver must pay almost £1,000 in fines and costs for driving a truck loaded with waste without being a registered waste carrier.
Grays, Essex-based Patrick Egan was caught driving a vehicle loaded with plasterboard, rubble and bricks in January. He did not hold a waste permit, nor was he employed by a registered waste carrier.
Police stopped the tipper during an investigation into fly-tipping in the area. Egan told police officers that he did not check the load and was paid £100 to drive the vehicle by a friend.
Egan, of Grange Road, Grays, was convicted in his absence at Basildon Magistrates Court on 18 September. He was fined £660 and must pay a £66 victim surcharge; £85 in Environment Agency costs and £154 in compensation.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “People driving tipper trucks such as Mr Egan drove have a responsibility to check the load and to be properly permitted by the Environment Agency. It is not good enough to ignore this advice as the court decision has shown today.”
A joint operation by the Environment Agency, DVSA and Met Police is to target suspected illegal waste operators in London, and will see the bodies share resources and information.
