A MAN who set up an unlicensed cleaning company has been hit with a hefty fine for dumping bags of rubbish. 

South Oxfordshire District Council has successfully prosecuted Grant Brown from Littlemore, who has been ordered to pay almost £1,500 for commercial waste offences. 

The 23-year-old, of Dudgeon Drive, pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday 29 July to two charges of fly-tipping.

The first lot of waste was discovered in Henley Road, Sandford-on-Thames on January 4, followed by a second in Heyford Hill Lane, Littlemore, on January 7.

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Both fly tips contained details of an address in Oxford.

Officers from South Oxfordshire District Council traced the address and were told by the resident that they had contracted Oxford Cleaning Services, to carry out cleaning work at their home and to remove the waste.

Oxford Mail:

The council's photo of some of the rubish

Brown had set up the cleaning business in January 2019, and told council officers that this had been his first contract.

He admitted he had not ensured he had the correct paperwork in place to remove waste and dispose of it legitimately.

He said he passed the waste to another person, for whom he had no details, and the waste was then fly-tipped in Littlemore and Sandford.

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Brown was charged under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 relating to his duty of care for waste (fly-tipping) and a further charge under Section 1 Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 for carrying waste without a licence.

He was fined a total of £400 and ordered to pay costs of £656.70, compensation of £396 and a victim surcharge of £30 - a total of £1,482.

David Rouane, South Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet member for housing and environment, said: "This case acts as a reminder to all businesses, whether they are well established or newly-created, that they must keep records relating to the disposal of their waste.

"If they intend to carry waste, they must obtain a waste carriers licence from the Environment Agency."