A phone repair shop boss has been fined over £1,300 after admitting his firm failed to make proper arrangements to dispose of commercial waste that was found dumped on an allotment.
Community Protection Officers found fly-tipped items on land in Bobbersmill which included marked packaging, flyers, mail and customer till receipts that could be traced back to the Phone Hut shop in Listergate.
On Wednesday 26 April Asad Mumtaz, director of parent company MS IT Solutions (UK) Limited, pleaded guilty at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to three duty of care offences under the Environmental Protection Act.
In interview Mr Mumtaz informed council officers that a member of staff at his shop appointed a man advertising as a waste collector on Gumtree. When the business waste was transferred over to the waste collector, checks were not made that the person collecting the waste was licensed to take it. In May last year, waste was found illegally fly-tipped and removed at a cost to Nottingham City Council.
Mr Mumtaz pleaded guilty to two further offences for failing to provide the council with waste transfer notes to demonstrate how the business was disposing of its trade waste both ahead of and after the fly tipping offence. Businesses have a duty of care to keep records to demonstrate how they are disposing of their waste for up to two years.
MS IT Solutions (UK) Limited was fined £175 for each of the three offences, and a £30 victim surcharge was added to the fine. The company was also ordered to pay all of the council’s costs of £759.50 – bringing the total legal bill to £1314.50.
Portfolio Holder for Community Services, Councillor Nicola Heaton, said: “Businesses have a duty to take steps to dispose of their waste appropriately and responsibly. This case shows that handing the responsibility over to someone who then illegally dumps your waste will come back to the business as a problem – and an expensive legal bill.
“We will continue to pursue cases like this so that offenders are punished and the message to others is clear – do the right thing with your waste or you will be next.”