Colne man fined £9,000 and ordered to clean up illegal dump

John Leslie Allison (72) of Southfield Lane in Colne disposed of the waste off Delves Lane in the town between September 20th, 2015 and June 15th, 2016 and was sentenced on Friday, January 5th 2017 at Preston Crown Court having pleaded guilty and been convicted on July 7th of last year to the offence of operating an unpermitted waste facility.

Ordered to pay the Environment Agency’s investigation costs of £9,190.64 in full, Mr Allison's sentencing had previously been postponed whilst the court directed investigations into his means after hearing how the landowner had repeatedly disposed of waste on land previously used for grazing livestock.

This activity had continued despite disposal sites requiring an environment permit and infrastructure investment to manage environment risks, a number of verbal and written warnings from the Environment Agency, and a formal notice requiring Mr Allison to clear waste from the land, which caused considerable concern to a number of local residents.

“Mr Allison has entirely failed to respond to our efforts and, even following an interview under caution, continued to import waste to the land without regard to warnings given by the Environment Agency," said an EA spokesperson. “Waste crime is a serious offence which can damage the environment, undermine legitimate business, and cause misery for local residents.

“The Environment Agency is determined to make life hard for criminals," the spokesperson added. "Our specialist crime unit uses intelligence to track and prosecute those involved in illegal waste activity and we rely on information from the public to bring those responsible to justice.”

People can report waste crime 24/7 to the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 807 060. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.