ABUSE of ‘bring sites’ in Stockton has seen 22 people hit with fines of £400 and another three will be summonsed to appear at court.

There are seven sites in or near supermarket car parks across the borough, each providing a range of recycling containers for people to use.

But the first weeks of lockdown saw the sites take “a bit of a hammering” with dumping of unsuitable items like toilets, beds, rubble, white goods and soil.

That has prompted Stockton Borough Council to appeal for people to stop abusing the sites or face action.

Cllr Steve Nelson, the Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “We really wanted to avoid fining anybody but unfortunately there have been 41 further incidents since we issued that well-publicised warning in late April. Many of the sites are covered by CCTV so if you dump stuff at them you run a very high risk you’ll be caught and either fined or summonsed to court, depending on the severity of the offence. And there could well be more fines and summonses on the way as there are around a dozen further investigations still ongoing."