A Telford man has been ordered to pay £1,000 for failing to clear an illegal waste site following a prosecution by the Environment Agency.
Brian Woods, 70, pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates Court to failing to comply with a court order to clear waste from a site on Granville Road, Donnington Wood.
He had previously admitted to running a waste operation without a permit, contrary to Environmental Permitting Regulations.
For that offence, he received a 12-month community order to do 100 hours of unpaid work and was also ordered to pay £1,470 in costs, and a £114 victim’s surcharge.
In 2019, Woods admitted he was storing waste on the site between December 2016 and April 2017 without an environmental permit.
The case was adjourned on condition that Woods remove all the waste from the site by July 2020 and was ordered not to bring any additional waste onto the site.
Between July 2020 and June 2024, Environment Agency officers made several checks on the site to find that the waste had not been removed.
Woods, on a number of occasions, did not attend scheduled meetings, citing ill health or medical appointments as the reason.
The defendant said in mitigation that, following the collapse of his business, he was not in a financial position to clear the site of waste.
The Environment Agency says around 75% of the waste has now been removed from the site.
Commenting on the case, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The Environment Agency will pursue any person or company that fails to uphold the law to protect nature and will continue to press for the strongest possible penalties.
“Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment and harm human health.”