Salford fly-tippers prosecuted as council clamps down

Salford City Council have prosecuted and fined three fly-tippers at one location for an estimated combined sum of £4000.

Two business owners, John Preece, 57, and Caroline Preece, 56, who own CW10 Beds and Mattresses in Middlewich, were caught on CCTV dumping a bed frame, a double mattress and other waste on Cambridge Street, Salford in their company van on February 26 2022.

He drove to Salford on May 19 2022 to dump bin bags containing carpet grippers with sharp exposed tacks and part of a chair.

Mr Preece claimed he was travelling though Salford looking for a tip and gave £20 to a man in a high-vis vest who told him to dump the rubbish on Cambridge Street.

The couple, of Booth Lane, Middlewich, pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court last week and were fined £150 each, ordered to pay £656.17 costs each, and ordered to pay £87.50 compensation equating to £1,787.34.

A third person, Muhammad Amjad, 43, from Cheetham Hill, was equally caught on CCTV on Cambridge Street, driving to Salford to dump the rubbish, although his nearest tip was only two miles away.

Amjad pleaded guilty last week at Tameside Magistrates Court and was fined £963 and ordered to pay costs of £900 and a victim surcharge of £96, totalling £1,959.

Cllr Barbara Bentham, Lead Member for Environment, Neighbourhoods and Community Safety said it was “astounding” that “people would drive all the way to Salford to dump rubbish on our streets, rather than go to a household waste recycling centre closer to home.”

She added: “These prosecutions send out a strong message that fly-tipping will not be tolerated in our city. We are committed to finding and prosecuting those involved and use our CCTV network to identify offenders and bring them to justice.

“It costs Salford City Council over half a million pounds a year to remove and dispose of fly-tipping. This is Salford taxpayers’ money, which could be spent on essential services for Salford people, including vulnerable adults and children needing social care.”

According to statistics from Defra and WasteDataFlow in 2021/22 there were 6,020 with only 287 having action taking against them and just seven resulting in fines.