Illegal Wiltshire rubbish collectors hit with nearly 30K worth of fines

Illegal rubbish collectors in Wiltshire have been fined as part of a council clampdown.

Wiltshire Council has fined three people a total sum of nearly £30,000.

Mr Stephen Dickel, of Westwood Road in Salisbury, pleaded guilty to failing to produce a waste carriers' licence and operating an unlicensed scrap metal collection business.

He was fined a total of £5,500, including costs, at a sentencing hearing at Salisbury Magistrates on 31 August 2023.

It's not first time Mr Dickel had been prosecuted by the council for the offence - he was previously prosecuted for unlicensed scrap metal collection in October 2019.

Warren Chant, also of Westwood Road, Salisbury, pleaded guilty to transporting waste without a waste carriers licence and to operating as an unlicensed scrap collector.

The court heard the pair were using a waste carriers licence they were not entitled to use when they were stopped by Wiltshire Police in January 2022.

They falsely claimed they were in the process of applying for a scrap metal collectors licence issued by Wiltshire Council.

The pair continued to operate illegally, using social media to market their illegal scrap and waste business.

Council officers will now pass the details of these prosecutions on to HMRC for further investigation as no tax was paid on all income made from this illegal activity.

In a separate case, a Devizes man, Mr Sam Sneyd of Victoria Road, was found guilty of operating an unlicensed scrap business and transporting waste without a waste carriers licence.

It followed a detailed investigation by the council's Environmental Enforcement Officers.

He was ordered to pay £22,000 in fines and costs during a hearing at Swindon Magistrates on 1 September 2023.

Sneyd had operated unlicensed for five years, making money from his illegal activity throughout that period.

In response to the fines, Cllr Caroline Thomas, cabinet member for Highways and Waste, said: "Well done to our hard-working enforcement officers in securing these convictions.

"I would also like to thank our colleagues in Test Valley Borough Council, Portsmouth City Council, HMRC and Wiltshire Police who all assisted in the investigation of Dickel and Chant.

"These individuals are prolific illegal operators who take business away from lawful and licensed businesses in the county.

"Anyone who uses social media sites to find scrap metal or waste collectors should be very wary about who they allow to take their scrap metal and waste, as people can be fined if they give their waste to unlicensed collectors.

"Administrators of social media selling sites should also ensure anyone advertising for waste collection displays their full upper tier waste carriers licence number and scrap metal dealers licence number if they are advertising for scrap metal collection.

"As these convictions show, we take unlicensed waste and scrap metal collection very seriously, and we will work hard to prosecute offenders."