Man fined £4,000 for dumping cardboard next to A303

Cardboard waste was dumped in a lay-by off the main road

A man has been fined nearly £4,000 for dumping a van-load of cardboard boxes on the A303 that did not belong to him.

Mohammed Hawkar, of Wicker Hill in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, left rubbish in a lay-by near Winterbourne Stoke.

The council said the rubbish was traced to a business in Yeovil which had loaned a van to Hawkar to move furniture.

Hawkar pleaded guilty to fly-tipping on a public highway at Swindon Magistrates Court on November 8 and was fined £3,950.

The Somerset business owner said his van was full of his own waste when it was taken away, but when Hawkar returned it, it was empty.

The council said it managed to track down Hawkar shortly afterwards and prosecute him.

"We are committed to tackling fly-tipping in Wiltshire and as this case shows, our Environment Enforcement officers will pursue offenders as part of our zero-tolerance approach to environmental crime," said councillor Nick Holder, cabinet member for highways, flooding and street scene.

"Our message is clear: We're Targeting Fly-tippers in Wiltshire and we will fine or prosecute anyone caught illegally dumping rubbish in our beautiful county."