A flytipper from Walsall has been convicted and sentenced after leaving rubbish blocking a Staffordshire road. Lee Mills, of Railswood Drive in Pelsall, turned the rural Nether Lane on the edge of Burntwood into a dumping site last June.
The unemployed scammer had been paid to get rid of waste items from four properties. But instead of disposing of them properly, he left waste, which included asbestos and scrap metal, strewn over Nether Lane.
Mills had also falsely claimed to be a registered waste carrier and a licensed scrap metal dealer. But environmental health officers rumbled the scam operation, tracing items back to the four properties, and ‘swooped’ on his home in Pelsall.
Read more: Fly-tippers dump waste mountain – including a caravan
They seized his vehicle which was used to commit the crimes. It was found laden with more waste and scrap metal at the time it was seized.
Lichfield District Council prosecuted Mills who pleaded guilty to the to flytipping, breaching a duty to dispose of controlled waste properly and fraud offences in relation to misrepresenting himself as a registered and licensed waste and scrap metal dealer.
The 51-year-old appeared at Cannock Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on Tuesday (January 7) and was handed a 12-month community order. He will be required to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
A flat-bed van used by Lee Mills to pick up rubbish from unsuspecting householders before being dumped in Nether Lane, Burntwood, was seized from him as part of Lichfield District Council’s investigation
He was also hit with a £1,500 costs bill and ordered to pay a fine of £114. The magistrates also ordered that he forfeit the vehicle used to commit the offences.
After Mills was sentenced Lichfield District Council’s cabinet member for Housing & Local Plan, Cllr Alex Farrell (Fazeley, Cons.) said: “We’re delighted with the outcome of this prosecution and hope that this sends a warning to anyone thinking of coming into our beautiful district to fly-tip waste.
“The penalties are severe – imprisonment, community service, fines, driving disqualification, forfeiture of the vehicle and a criminal record. Our environmental health officers will come after you, wherever you live.”