A SCRAP man has been landed with a bill of more than £800 for operating without the proper licence.

Officers from Durham County Council were carrying out stop and checks as part of Operation Stop It last June when they spotted a white Ford Transit van, magistrates in Peterlee were told.

The two occupants appeared to be looking in gardens and yards for scrap.

One of the occupants, Ben Mitchell, told officers that he had been collecting scrap items around Chester-le-Street and that he did have documents to prove this but he didn’t have them with him.

He also admitted that he did not have a scrap metal licence, the court heard.

He was handed a producer requiring copies of waste transfer notes between April and June 2015.

Meanwhile, checks revealed that Mitchell was not licensed by Durham County Council as a scrap collector.

He was unable to produce the appropriate waste transfer notes and he was handed a £300 fixed penalty notice, which remains unpaid.

Mitchell, 28, of Don Dixon Drive, Jarrow, pleaded guilty to failing to produce waste transfer notes and was found guilty following a trial of carrying on business as a scrap metal dealer without a licence.

Mitchell, who represented himself, told the court that he had an Environment Agency permit for waste collection and mistakenly believed that this would cover him.

He was fined a total of £295 for the two offences and ordered to pay £500 costs and a £25 victim surcharge.

For more information and to apply for a scrap metal dealers licence visit www.durham.gov.uk/article/2173/Scrap-metal-dealers-licence or call 03000 260 016.