Council prosecuted after being informed of flytipping near Western Avenue

A Hanger Hill resident has to pay £430 after dumping a television on a local street, following a prosecution by Ealing Council.

Lily James dumped a television on a grass verge near Western Avenue and was seen by a neighbour who informed the council.

During the investigation, Ms James had been given the opportunity to pay a £150 fixed penalty notice for a littering offence to discharge her liability for conviction. Ms James refused, and the matter was referred for prosecution.

She appeared at Ealing Magistrates Court (6 January 2020) and admitted to leaving the old television on a public highway near to her home. She was given a fine and ordered to pay costs which amounted to £430. She was credited for her guilty plea.

Ealing Council say any resident wishing to dispose of old household items must do so legally and responsibly or risk a hefty fine and prosecution - they can either sign up to the council’s bulky waste collection service or take items to the dump themselves. 

Councillor Mik Sabiers, cabinet member for environment and highways said: “I am happy that the council has secured another prosecution – this time against a resident who clearly thought that disposing of their old TV was someone else’s problem. 

“The reality is that dumping old appliances and rubbish on the borough’s streets is not only irresponsible and against the law, it’s unpleasant, bad for the environment and costs us tens of thousands of pounds per year to clean up.

“Our officers are cracking down on littering and fly-tipping and we will prosecute the people behind it, but we can only do so much at a time when the council has seen its budget reduced by 64% compared to 2010. In fact, in one case last year, we were spending around £150 a day clearing rubbish from a particular street before we caught and successfully prosecuted the perpetrators.  

“The success of this most recent prosecution owed a great deal to a member of the local community reporting the individual dumping the TV. This is exactly why we ask residents to help us tackle the problem by reporting offences when they see them occurring.”

Ealing residents can report a fly-tipper or dumped rubbish online at www.ealing.gov.uk/reportit. 

They can sign up to the council’s bulky waste service. 

15th January 2020