Fly tipper hit by driving ban
A Wigan man has lost his driving licence after being found guilty of fly tipping on farmland in Abram.
David Rigby of Hillcrest, Platt Bridge, pleaded guilty to the offence at Wigan Magistrates Court and on July 3rd was banned from driving for 3 months, sentenced to 200 hours community service and ordered to pay £250 costs.
Magistrates heard that Simon Rowe, Senior Technical Officer with the Council's Community Protection Department was called out in October last year to an area of farm land off Warrington Road, Abram by a member of the public.
He found a mound of fitted kitchen waste material mixed up with used kitchen work tops, cupboards and a cooker. Building rubble, plaster bags and lots of plastic wrapping was also evident.
Rigby was witnessed by a member of the public who provided the council with a tipper truck number plate that led to him being traced as the vehicle's registered keeper.
After failing to attend interviews with the council and court hearings, a warrant was issued for Rigby's arrest. He finally attended court on Thursday 29 June and pleaded guilty.
Welcoming the sentence, Wigan Council's Public Health Manager Dave Bithell said: "Hopefully it will act as a strong deterrent to others and send out a message that fly tipping doesn't pay. We are getting tougher with fly tippers and we have the technology and the legal powers to catch them. With the help of the public we will prosecute more and more of these anti-social individuals."