Rogue scrapman puts hotel boss in court

Jun 3 2008 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

A HOTELIER whose waste was fly-tipped after he gave it to a rogue scrapman was yesterday ordered to pay more than £1,300 by magistrates.

John Blackmore, director of Blackmore’s Plough Hotel Ltd in Alnwick, allowed the scrapman to remove waste from his premises during refurbishment last summer, presuming it would be taken to a tip, the town’s court heard.

But he failed to check whether the man was registered to dispose of the waste correctly and it was later found fly-tipped in nearby countryside.

Blackmore was prosecuted by the Environment Agency in one of the first cases of its kind in the North East after the abandoned material was traced to him.

Under new legislation, householders or businesses can be prosecuted for not taking reasonable steps to ensure their waste has been properly disposed of.

Blackmore pleaded guilty to a charge brought by the Environment Agency, that he failed to ensure that the scrapman was a registered waste carrier.

He was ordered to pay court costs of £1,148.87, fined £200 and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Helen Ferguson told the court how on August 29 last year, the Plough Hotel on Bondgate Without was in the process of being renovated prior to its reopening in December as Blackmore’s.

Although steps had been taken to remove waste from the site during the refurbishment by hiring skips, some scrap was still on the premises.

Blackmore and colleagues were approached by a man who was removing scrap from a neighbouring site in a white Transit van and asked if they wanted their rubbish taken away.

The court heard the man offered to remove the waste in return for the scrap metal it contained and no money changed hands.

However, Ms Ferguson explained that Blackmore had failed in his duty of care by not asking the scrapman’s name or to see his registration, or checking with the agency whether he was authorised to dispose of the rubbish properly.

She said: “This should then prevent waste being given to unscrupulous waste operators who fly-tip the waste and unfortunately that is what happened in this case.”

Subsequently, Alnwick District Council environmental officer Alastair Henderson attended an incident of fly-tipping at Harlow Hill, near Longhoughton, on land owned by the Northumberland Estates.

The court heard items in the dumped waste were traceable to the hotel, including a bag of envelopes, receipts and builder’s invoices all bearing the business’ name and address, and there were also bags of scrap metal.

Mr Henderson later visited the hotel and found a bag similar to that which had been dumped.

When presented with photographs of the rubbish, Blackmore admitted it came from his premises. He paid £750 to have it cleared up. The court heard the scrapman has never been traced.

Defending, Geoff Knowles QC said Blackmore and colleagues had taken steps to ensure that waste had been correctly removed from the premises prior to August 29. On that occasion, Mr Knowles said they had taken their eye off the ball in allowing the scrapman to take the waste away without checking his legitimacy.

“He (Blackmore) is a responsible businessman who takes his public duties very seriously. This was simply a one-off error in trusting someone else.”

Sentencing, chairman of the magistrates Peggy Maunder said: “We feel that it was negligence on the part of the hotel and that they were the victim of the scrapman.” A second charge, that Blackmore failed to complete transfer of waste notices, was withdrawn by the prosecutor.

Be vigilant

THE Environment Agency received 163 reports of fly-tipping in Northumberland from June 2006 to February this year.

All were investigated but the agency was unable to say last night how many resulted in prosecutions, successful or otherwise.

The agency is urging people to be vigilant when disposing of waste via a third party.

A spokesman said: "Businesses and householders should always make sure that if they hire contractors such as builders or scrap metal merchants who are taking waste away from their property, they are a licensed waste carrier."