Man ordered to pay almost £1,500 for fly-tipping domestic freezer in Bristol street

A man from Emersons Green has been ordered to pay a total of £1,492 in fines and costs after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted him for waste offences following the discovery of a fly-tip.

Lee Brunt, 47, of Clematis Road in Emersons Green appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty to the offence of fly-tipping. He was ordered to pay a fine of £700, along with £512 in costs and a £280 victim surcharge, making a total of £1,492.

The court heard that on 22 June 2023 operatives from South Gloucestershire Council’s Street Cleansing team discovered a domestic freezer that had been fly-tipped in South Road, Kingswood.

The freezer was on the paved area just outside of South Road car park on council land and had a note attached which read ‘free to collector’. It was removed for disposal by the operatives.

The area is covered by CCTV, which when reviewed showed Brunt wheeling the freezer from the rear of an address on Regent Street, and across South Road car park. The freezer was left in the street and Brunt walked away empty handed.

On Monday 3 July, Brunt attended the council offices for a voluntary interview where he was shown the CCTV and photographs of the discarded freezer. He acknowledged that he was the person seen in the footage moving the freezer across the car park.

He stated that he was in the process of moving out of his Regent Street flat and had left the note on the freezer offering it for free to passers-by. As his property backed on to the car park, he said he believed that the best location to place the freezer was on the pavement outside so as not to obstruct vehicles.

He accepted that this was some distance away from his flat and that anyone finding the freezer would not know which property it had come from. The interview was concluded and he was advised that he was being reported for summons.

Councillor Leigh Ingham, cabinet member responsible for environmental enforcement at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “We all have a responsibility to dispose of our waste lawfully and not discard it expecting that others will take it away. There is no excuse for fly-tipping. In this instance the waste could have easily been disposed of at one of our Sort It recycling centres or arranged to be collected by the council, rather than left to blight the local area.

“South Gloucestershire Council will pursue anyone who dumps their rubbish illegally through the courts and our award-winning environmental enforcement team has a 100 per cent record of securing successful prosecutions for this type of offence.”

Residents who see illegal fly tipping are encouraged to report it by contacting the council’s StreetCare helpdesk on 01454 868000, emailing [email protected] or visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/flytipping