A Middlesbrough skip operator has been given a suspended prison sentence after he ran a waste transfer station without an environmental permit. The Environment Agency (EA) said Stephen Fenwick also failed to provide information to its officers about the waste he was handling at Bolckow industrial estate in Grangetown.
Fenwick, who traded as CPR Skip Hire out of two operating centres and under a restricted operator licence, pleaded guilty to the waste offences at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.
An EA site visit in January 2020 found 10 skips containing mixed waste including wood, plastic, tyres and domestic appliances. He was advised to remove the waste, but during further visits throughout the year the EA officers saw further evidence of waste storage and sorting taking place. When asked for waste transfer notes Fenwick said he didn’t have any and offered to fabricate some. On the day of sentence the operator provided evidence which showed the site had now been fully cleared of waste.
He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, as well as 10 days of rehabilitation activity and an 8-week 7pm to 7am curfew. He was also fined £480, ordered to pay more than £4,000 in costs and a £122 victim surcharge.
