13/02/2006 - A Bristol man was today ordered to pay £3,000 in fines and costs for illegally storing and disposing of waste in the Chew Valley. The Environment Agency sent an officer to a site near Winford on June 28, 2005 after receiving a tip-off from a member of the public who reported that waste was being burnt in a field off Greatstone Lane.

The officer found an estimated 100 tonnes of brick, stone and block. There were also heaps of various other waste materials including black bags of refuse, builders waste and empty containers.

In the field there was a large hole approximately four metres deep containing other waste, much of it burnt. It included tins, plastic, board, wood, a steel radiator, car wheels, tyres, a washing machine, bicycle wheels, iron guttering and a frying pan.

Colin Patch admitted he owned the field and brought waste back to the site to store as part of his business. Magistrates heard that the site also suffered from serious fly-tipping and it was this material that was burnt by the defendant.

Colin Patch of Fossil Stowe, Tarnwell Lane, Stanton Drew, Bristol was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay £500 costs by Flax Bourton magistrates after pleading guilty to two offences under the Environmental Protection 11000, that on or before June 29, 2005 he illegally deposited demolition waste and subsoil on land at Greatstone Lane, near Winford and that on the same date he treated, kept and disposed of controlled waste at the same site.

'This was a sizeable quantity of waste and the defendant should have known better. The removal of fly-tipped waste is the responsibility of the landowner. He should have taken it to a landfill for safe disposal instead of burning and burying it,' said Chris Povey for the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency’s free 24 hour hotline for reporting environmental incidents is 0800 80 70 60.