Man, 81, admits fly-tipping asbestos materials

Some of the rubbish Jagdish Kumar Sharma admitted dumping on Broken Gate Lane, Denham, in September

An 81-year-old man has admitted fly-tipping asbestos roofing materials in undergrowth on a village lane.

Jagdish Kumar Sharma, from Beaufont Road, London, was given a three month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to depositing controlled waste without the authority of a current environmental permit.

Buckinghamshire Council, who prosecuted him, said he was caught on CCTV after 16 black sacks of corrugated roofing sheet material were found in undergrowth on an unadopted road in Broken Gate Lane, Denham, in September.

Magistrates at High Wycombe ordered him to pay compensation of £582, a £154 victim surcharge and £917.66 in costs.

A council officer suspected the rubbish contained asbestos, and after it was analysed, white asbestos fibres were found.

A specialist contractor removed it, with the costs met by residents.

Sharma told officers he was "incensed" when he found the waste outside a property he owned in London, so he loaded it into his vehicle and dumped it at Broken Gate Lane, the authority said.

Conservative councillor Thomas Broom, the member for climate change and environment, said he had been "ordered to compensate the residents fully for the clean-up expenses they incurred as they were able to supply CCTV evidence which clearly shows the offender carrying out the crime".

"Working together we have been able to secure another conviction against a fly-tipper and send out a strong message to others that we will do everything in our power to punish those who commit this crime."