A FORMER hotel site was used as a dumping ground by a landscape worker – which ended in him before the courts.

David Barney, of Wiltshire Road, Salisbury, was found guilty of fly-tipping soil, ground workings and green waste on land at the former Askers Hotel near Dorchester without an environmental permit.

The case came after, in March 2021, Dorset Council’s Waste Enforcement Team received a fly-tipping report from a member of the public regarding an incident they had witnessed the previous day, and an officer immediately left for the Askers site.

While travelling west along the A35, the officer saw a light blue Ford Transit tipper travelling in the opposite direction which matched the vehicle description in the report.

On arrival at the site, the officer found numerous loads of fly-tipped waste.

Shortly after leaving, the officer passed the same Transit tipper parked on a small side turning nearby.

Suspecting the fly-tipper was currently active in the area, the officer returned to the Askers site moments later, where he saw the vehicle with its rear load tipped up and the last part of a load of soil sliding out.

The driver introduced himself as ‘Dave’ and said he rented the site from the owner and had permission to deposit soil there. He refused to provide his full name and address before the officer left.

Upon further investigation, the officer established no one had permission to deposit waste on the Askers site, and there was no environmental permit or waste exemption in place.

A follow-up enquiry with Dorset Police confirmed the registered keeper of the vehicle was 37-year-old Barney.

The officer subsequently searched the waste carrier licence holders’ public register, which confirmed that such a licence was held in the name of a garden landscaping company called DB Landscapes at the same address.

In April 2021, the officer attended Barney’s home address to serve him with a requirement to be interviewed a few weeks later.

He did not show up to the interview or provide any reason for his non-attendance, so on May 12, Barney was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for the offence of unauthorised deposition of waste, requiring payment of £400 within 14 days, or £200 if paid within 10 days.

Despite a final reminder letter being sent to the defendant in early June, to date no payment has been received.

Dorset Council took Barney to court, where he was found guilty in absence, arrested and subsequently produced before Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on March 7, 2023.

On Thursday (April 20) at the same court, Barney was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order with 150 hours unpaid work in the community and ordered to pay full costs of £5,590 plus a victim surcharge of £95.

After the sentencing, Cllr Laura Beddow, portfolio holder for culture, communities and customer services for the council, said: “Once again, through the sterling efforts of our waste enforcement and legal teams, we have secured another successful prosecution against a Dorset fly-tipper.

“On behalf of Dorset residents, I want to thank everyone involved in bringing this case to court.

“The fact the defendant was operating under the guise of a legitimate landscaping business clearly shows their illegal activities were driven by profit, to get around waste transport and disposal costs.

“We appear to have caught them red-handed, but they still tried to ignore the consequences of their actions.

“When employing anyone to carry out work on your behalf that will produce some kind of waste, we would strongly urge everyone to ask how the rubbish will be disposed of and make sure you get the correct paperwork, including an invoice or receipt for the waste they’re taking, including their contact details.”