Letchworth man Anthony Campbell has been fined by St Albans council for fly-tipping, after a "large-scale" illegal dump.

The 37-year-old admitted dumping the contents of a waste clearance in front of a farm gate on Coleman Green Lane, between Wheathampstead and Lemsford.

Following an examination of the rubbish, contents were traced to a householder in St Albans.

Further enquiries revealed that the householder had paid for the rubbish to be disposed of by a company which had a waste carrier licence.

Mr Campbell was identified as the company employee who had overseen the waste disposal.

He was interviewed by a council officer under caution and admitted the offence of fly-tipping on the quiet road.

He explained that he had been on his way to a private waste disposal centre when his truck suffered a puncture.

He had then decided to dump the heavy rubbish so he could make his way home to repair the tyre.

The council had arranged for its waste contractor Veolia to clear up for the fly-tip mound which included plastics, sofa cushions, cardboard and other material. This had cost £880.

Magistrates warned Campbell that if he had not entered an early guilty plea, they would have considered imposing a custodial sentence.

Instead, Campbell was ordered to contribute £400 towards the council’s legal costs and pay a victim surcharge of £144.

He was also sentenced to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

Cllr Lynn Cunningham, St Albans City & District Council's lead for waste and recycling, said: "Fly-tipping is hazardous, a blight on the landscape and costly to clear up.

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"We know it is a major concern of our residents, particularly those living near fly-tipping hot spots.

“This was a large-scale dump and our enforcement team did extremely well to trace the offender and bring them to court.

“This successful prosecution shows that we will not hesitate to act against fly-tippers.

"There is no excuse for this behaviour and we hope this prosecution will deter others from fly-tipping.”