Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury pair fined over fly-tipping offences

Two men have been convicted of fly-tipping following an investigation by Shropshire Council.

Published
Shrewsbury Crown Court

Simon Gurdziel, 40, of Whitemere Road, Shrewsbury, was convicted in February of fly-tipping after he was caught on camera dumping household waste on public land at York Road, Harlescott, on February 10 last year.

His friend, Thomas Piatek, 28, of Gloucester Road, Shrewsbury, was in court on Thursday and was also convicted of a fly-tipping offence.

The York Road area had been the scene of a number of fly-tips throughout the autumn and winter of 2014/15 which prompted Shropshire Council, working with colleagues in the Shrewsbury Crime & Disorder Partnership, to use deployable CCTV there.

The camera captured Piatek dumping a sofa onto land close to garages at York Road on February 7 2015. A few days later, the two men were seen dumping several bags of household waste at the same spot from the back of a van.

Gurdziel appeared at Shrewsbury Magistrates Court on February 25 following an investigation by Shropshire Council's environmental maintenance team. He was ordered to pay a fine of £530, with £1,000 costs and a £53 victim surcharge.

Piatek was found guilty on Thursday for fly-tipping a sofa and was fined £320, with £937 costs and a £32 victim surcharge.

In total, both men stand to pay out £2,872 for dumping a sofa and some bags of mixed household waste.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "We are very pleased that the courts have found for the council in both these cases. Fly-tipping costs us a huge amount every year, is unnecessary and is hazardous to people and the environment.

"Shropshire Council will continue to pursue any wrongdoers wherever possible."

Figures released in September showed that there were 15,210 recorded times when rubbish was dumped illegally across Telford & Wrekin and Shropshire in the past three years.

In Telford the figures rose year on year from 2,753 in 2012 to 4,524 in 2015.

In Shropshire, there were 1,320 incidents in 2012/13, rising to 1,660 in 2013/14 and decreasing to 1,474 last year.

Anyone wishing to report fly-tipping, or wanting to find out the legitimate routes for recycling or disposing of waste, should contact the council on 0345 678 9000.

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