A CONSETT woman is facing a legal bill for more than £760 after dumping takeaway food wrappers in the same car park on four separate occasions – including twice on the same day.

The woman was caught on CCTV throwing the litter from her car at Ponds Court car park in the town last summer.

The 19-year-old can be seen driving into the car park just after midnight on Saturday, July 13 and parking her car before eating her food, dropping the litter and driving away.

Footage also shows her returning at 10pm the same day and again throwing waste from the window.

She was also caught on camera on two further occasions, on Monday, 12 and Wednesday, 14 August, committing the same offence at the same location.

The footage was passed to Durham County Council and a neighbourhood warden carried out checks, to identify the owner of the vehicle and the person seen on camera.

The woman was issued with four fixed penalty notices but failed to pay them, leading to the council pursuing a prosecution against her.

The woman did not attend Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court and was found guilty in her absence.

She was fined £600 and ordered to pay £130 in costs and a £32 victim surcharge.

Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “There really is no excuse for this offence. It takes very little effort to dispose of your litter correctly – if there isn’t a bin nearby then simply take your waste home with you.

“The fact this defendant returned to the same location four times to dump litter over the period of a month shows a blatant disregard for the environment and the law.

“I hope the fine imposed by the magistrates acts as a deterrent to her behaving in the same way in the future.

“We are lucky enough to live in a very beautiful area of the country and, as a council, we will pursue enforcement action in order to protect it.”