Court orders Sheffield firm to pay Â£4,000 after waste dumped at beauty spot

Magistrates decided RM City Construction Ltd was responsible for the two loads of rubbish found at Skye Edge in Manor, despite the waste having been dumped by someone else.

Sheffield Council brought the case to court after its environment officers found timber, wooden cabinets, plastics, cardboard, a bath, windows, tiles, plaster and rubble, as well as ash, food waste and several items of correspondence.

An investigation found the waste was from an property where the firm, based in Mount Street, had carried out work.

Directors refused to attend an interview and only co-operated when summoned to court.

The firm said it had used a private individual to get rid of the waste, but had not carried out any checks as to where it might end up.

On Tuesday RM City Construction Ltd was fined Â£3,000 at Sheffield Magistrates Court, with Â£342 clean-up costs and Â£368 legal costs awarded to the council.

Cabinet member for the environment Bryan Lodge said the council worked hard to keep Sheffield’s streets and parks clean.

He added: “While we accept that RM City Construction Ltd did not tip the waste, the company did not take steps to ensure that its ultimate destination was appropriate.

“We hope that this sends out a signal to other companies to ensure their waste arrangements are legitimate.”

In the last 12 months the council has:

- Issued 10 fixed penalty notices for fly tipping, totalling Â£3,000.

- Issued 30 fixed penalty notices for other waste offences, totalling Â£1,600.

- Taken 12 other waste offence cases to court and won every case - Â£4,800 in fines and Â£3,530 in costs, total Â£9,230.

- Issued 800 fixed penalty notices for littering, totalling Â£35,400.

- Convicted 205 litter offenders who did not pay the fixed penalty, with Â£30,475 in fines and Â£29,691 in costs, totalling Â£60,166.

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