A MAN who refused to confront council officials over illegally dumped waste has been ordered to pay out £450.

Ross Cullen, 26, of Prospect Terrace, Chester-le-Street, failed to respond to Durham County Council's request for information on fencing, materials, items of furniture and bags of household waste which were dumped in a back garden.

Kamila Coulson-Patel, prosecuting for the authority, told magistrates in Newton Aycliffe yesterday that a resident resident contacted the council to report a large amount of waste being dumped in the back garden and yard of a property on John Street, in Sacriston.

The resident reported witnessing the waste being unloaded from a vehicle by two men and passed on the registration number.

A council neighbourhood warden attended the property on July 1 last year and subsequent enquires led the warden to Cullen.

A legal notice was hand delivered to the defendant requiring him to provide information in relation to the dumping of the waste.

However, Cullen failed to respond by the deadline of January 18, 2017.

Chairman of the bench Pauline Parkins allowed the case to be proved in Cullen's absence and fined him £120, ordered him to pay costs of £300 and a victim surcharge of £30.

Ian Hoult, the council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “We investigate every report we get of waste being dumped illegally and this case proves the consequences of failing to comply.

“The vast majority of residents do dispose of their waste within the law and there are plenty of ways to do so."

Information about waste services can be found at www.durham.gov.uk/recycling