A MAN has been fined after being caught on CCTV flytipping rubbish on an access road.

Robert Anthony Stephenson, 25, of Valley Road, Chester-le-Street, was filmed dumping carrier bags of waste, cardboard and wood from a white van on land near Beamish Boarding Kennels.

The vehicle’s registration was traced back to his address and he was summoned to a court hearing, which he failed to attend.

A warrant was issued for his arrest and Stephenson handed himself in to police and was brought before magistrates sitting at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to flytipping the rubbish.

In mitigation, Stephenson explained that he failed to attend the first hearing as his legal team had failed to inform him due to a staff illness.

Stephenson said he had ‘made a silly mistake’ by taking a friend’s waste as a favour, but on realising he did not have a permit to deposit waste at the tip decided to fly-tip it instead.

Magistrates ordered himto pay a fine of £320, a victim surcharge of £32 and legal costs of £425.

Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “This latest case shows that we will prosecute anyone we find to be flytipping in our county.

“While we are aware that most people do the right thing, there are still those who continue to break the law and we are determined to tackle the issue of flytipping across the county.

“There is never an excuse for flytipping, especially when there are a number of ways to dispose of waste and rubbish responsibly.”