Firms fined after mountains of plant waste are flytipped in Great Horkesley

The owner of a plant nursery in Colchester had paid Brentwood-based demolition firm Walsh & Sons £25,000 to clear his site.

But the jobs was sub-contracted to Calahans Cleaning Services Ltd of Stanford Le Hope.

No formal contract was drawn up and instead of getting rid of the waste properly it was dumped at Lodge Farm in Great Horkesley and outside a unit in Axial Way, Colchester,

Chelmsford Magistrates' Court heard Nick Walsh, director of Walsh & Sons, had acted with integrity once he knew of the fly-tipping and had arranged for the waste to be cleared within nine hours.

But both companies admitted failing to comply with a duty of care imposed by the Environmental Protection Act when disposing of controlled waste.

The court heard Calahans had employed a skip company to take the waste but had failed in their duty of care to check if the company was registered to carry it, ask where the waste would be taken, or completed any transfer of waste papers.

Dumped - the waste in Great Horkesley

The failure to complete and retain Waste Transfer Notes means the fly-tippers can't be traced.

Ordering Walsh & Sons Ltd to pay a fine of £33,500, costs of £2,924.26 and a victim surcharge of £170, presiding magistrate Simon Phillips said the Company had displayed a “high degree of negligence”.

Calahans Cleaning Services Ltd were ordered to pay a £6,000 fine together with costs of £2,924.26 and a victim surcharge of £170.

Mr Phillips said that the failure to take reasonable measures meant that “the opportunity to find the offender was lost”.

After the hearing, environment officer Sarah Frost said companies must take responsibility for themselves.

She said: “The duty of care cannot simply be delegated to another company. There is a duty to check how the next waste holder in the chain will handle the waste and where the journey will end.”