Haulier jailed for illegally dumping thousands of tyres

A waste haulier has received a 12-month prison sentence for illegally dumping thousands of used tyres.

In a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency (EA), Mold Crown Court was told how Mark Watts, 41, of Burntwood, Staffordshire, transported the tyres to rented land at Abercynllaith, Oswestry and also a unit on the Broad Oak Business Park in Whitchurch in 2008 and 2009, neither site being authorised to accept this sort of waste.

Watts had operated under the name of Storm Recycling from August 2008, and was being paid by tyre-fitting businesses across Shropshire and North Wales to remove and dispose of waste tyres.

When the EA discovered what was happening at the sites, Watts was served with two notices to remove the tyres under Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

However, neither notice was properly complied with, which meant thousands of tyres had to be removed at expense to the landowner.