Chippenham resident convicted of fly-tipping

A Chippenham resident has been handed a large fine at Swindon Magistrates Court for fly-tipping his domestic waste in the rural countryside.

Joseph Hillier of Stockwood Road, Chippenham, pleaded guilty to two counts of fly-tipping his household waste in rural areas of Corsham in spring 2022.

For his illegal actions, Hillier was fined a total of £2,001, including costs, on Friday 30 September.

Armed with relevant evidence, Wiltshire Council Environmental Enforcement Officers initially interviewed Hillier under caution, when he admitted to the two deposits of fly-tipping in the countryside.  

The court heard how Hillier had a build-up of rubbish at home, which he intended to take to the household recycling centre (HRC) at Stanton St Quinton near Chippenham.

On arrival the HRC was closed, and so in an act of stupidity he decided to dump the rubbish on a country lane on his journey back home. Not satisfied with dumping his first load of waste, he then repeated the act in another rural area of Corsham a few weeks later. He told the court it was an idiotic thing to do and that he regretted his actions.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Waste, said: "We adopt a zero tolerance on fly-tippers across the Wiltshire Council area and where we have the evidence, we will pursue prosecutions.

"Quite rightly this person was convicted for his actions which were illegal and completely unacceptable. Not only was he content to fly-tip his waste once, but he also thought it was acceptable to dump further waste in our rural county.

"We have set out our commitment in our business plan to pursue further fly-tipping prosecutions, and we are investing in more technology and more resources to step up our fight against the scourge of fly-tipping."

To find out more about how people can report fly-tipping, people should visit our fly-tipping page.