A FLYTIPPER was traced through a letters to his aunt found in black bin liners filled with rubbish - dumped close to a household waste recycling centre, a court was told.

When neighbourhood wardens traced her she confirmed she had given £30 to her nephew, Josh Wray, to remove the waste.

Wray, of Burnside Avenue, Horden, County Durham, has been ordered to pay £700 after pleading guilty at Peterlee Magistrates Court to flytipping at Warren House Gill, near the village recycling centre.

Magistrates were told a neighbourhood warden from Durham County Council, who was carrying out a mobile patrol of known flytipping hotspots, came across the dumped black bin liners filled with household waste in November last year.

Inside the bags were a number of letters, which were traced to Wray’s aunt

When the warden spoke to Wray, he confirmed that he was responsible for the waste but said he could not afford to pay the Fixed Penalty Notice which was offered to him. He then failed to attend an interview scheduled for December.

The 22-year-old told magistrates he had been out to make quick money.

He was fined £320 and ordered to pay investigation costs of £268.70, legal costs or £65 and a £34 victim surcharge, a total of £687.70.

Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “There really is no excuse for flytipping. "There are many ways to dispose of your unwanted items correctly, including in this case, a Household Waste Recycling Centre just along from where the rubbish was dumped.

“Unwanted items can be taken for free to any of our recycling centres or residents can also book a bulky waste collection. Anyone paying for someone to take away their waste should always ask where it is going.

"If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is, so it is always better to be cautious.

“Thankfully, most people dispose of their waste responsibly across County Durham. For the minority who don’t, we hope this latest prosecution serves as a reminder as to how seriously we take this issue. We would also encourage anyone to report any instances of flytipping in order to help us to take action against those who choose to blight our landscape in this way.”

To find out more about how to dispose of waste correctly, visit www.durham.gov.uk/recycling and to report flytipping, visit www.durham.gov.uk/flytipping