A CRACKDOWN on fly tipping and environmental crimes has seen more than £4,000 worth of fines and costs imposed on Darlington litterers.

Eight men and women, all with addresses in the town, were found guilty of a range of offences which included dumping household waste, building materials, abandoning vehicles, and failing to answer questions over fly tipping allegations.

Throughout Monday, June 13, magistrates in Darlington handed out £2,315 worth of fines, £1,586.18 in court costs and £244 of victim surcharges.

Duane Corrie, 28, of Richmond Close, was ordered to pay a total of £1,338.19 to the court after he pleaded guilty to leaving planks of wood, cardboard and plasterboard at the entrance to a farmer’s field.

The rubbish was dumped on Walworth Back Lane in late December last year before council officers found links to Corrie’s address within the pile of waste.

Magistrates accepted not all of the materials left at the site were his, but Corrie was ordered to pay the price for damaging the environment with the substantial fly-tip.

Fellow fly-tippers, Stacey Clixby, 35, of Haughton Road, Helen McGinty, 38, of Eastmount Road, and Bethany Parkes, 28, of Leonard Street, were each fined £220 after all three failed to attend an interview in relation to a fly-tip.

Clixby, McGinty and Parkes did not appear in Darlington Magistrates’ Court, but the chairman of the bench found them guilty in their absence.

Nichola Ann Coates, 40, of Geneva Road, also failed to attend court and was ordered to pay £602 in fines and costs after abandoning a vehicle registered in her name.

Laura Dodsworth, 32, of Leonard Street, Rachael Donaghy, 28, of Allan Street, and Craig Nicholson, 28, of Middleton Street, are also required to pay £1,029 in fines and costs for littering offences.

The convictions come in the wake of Darlington Borough Council’s announcement that under a reformed plan for street cleaning, an Environmental Crime Enforcement Team will continue to investigate fly-tipping and back lane littering despite budget cuts.

Councillor Nick Wallis, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for leisure and local environment, said: “The annual cost of street cleaning and clearing up after such incidents to Darlington tax payers is approximately £1.5m a year.

“The vast majority of people living in Darlington are responsible and care about the borough, these cases show that we will catch and punish those who persist in this anti-social behaviour.”