A COMPANY has been hit with a £14,700 legal bill after more than 500 tonnes of waste was dumped in a disused warehouse

Sunderland-based Thompson Waste Ltd, which runs a waste transfer station in Hendon, paid a man to take away 585 tonnes of mixed waste from its site.

But some of it was later found dumped in a factory warehouse in Pallion, which cost the landlord £100,000 to dispose of properly.

Thompson Waste this week pleaded guilty at Sunderland Magistrates’ Court to charges brought by the Environment Agency for failing to comply with legislation requiring businesses to ensure their waste is transferred and disposed of legally.

Chris Bunting, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court that waste found at the Pallion site could be traced back to the company.

Investigations showed that between September 2015 and January 2016, the company paid a local man below market rates to remove waste without fulfilling their legal requirement to check it was being taken to a permitted destination.

The paperwork completed failed to include details such as the origin of the waste or an accurate description.

The Court ruled that the company had acted recklessly. In mitigation, Robin Patton, acting on behalf of the defendant, told the court that the waste represented a tiny fraction of the company’s business and that they had co-operated with the investigation.

Thompson Waste Ltd was fined £3,335 and ordered to pay compensation of £5,394 and costs of £6,000.

Rachael Caldwell, from the Environment Agency’s Waste and Enforcement Department, said: “All producers and operators have a responsibility to ensure that their waste is disposed of lawfully.

“Those that don’t are as liable for the detrimental impact it has on the environment and local communities as those that dump it.

She added: “Thompson Waste Ltd broke the law over several months, showing little regard for the environment”.