Fly tipper left personal details in rubbish

Waste was found next to fly-tipping warning poster

A man has been convicted of obstructing environmental health officers after household waste containing his personal details was found dumped in an alleyway.

Several bags were found between All Saints Road and Gower Street in the St Peter's area of Wolverhampton in July. Environmental officers visited a property in the city after finding packaging inside addressed to Andrei Stoica.

A man at the address refused to give his name or any information relating to the incident, and Mr Stoica, 25, later refused to attend an interview with officers.

But he was fined £660 at Dudley Magistrates' Court last month after being convicted in his absence of one obstruction charge under the Environment Act.

City of Wolverhampton Council's environmental crime team found further bagged household waste had been dumped in the same place when they began investigating, the council said.

A notice was posted through the letterbox of the property requiring Stoica to be interviewed at the civic centre, but he failed to turn up, which led officers to prosecute him.

As well as being fined, magistrates ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £264 and costs of £1,795 during the hearing on 26 November.

The costs awarded to the council would be reinvested back into its environmental crime service, the authority said.

Councillor Bhupinder Gakhal, cabinet member for resident services, said the conviction was "a great result" and an example of partnership work.

"Thanks to the address details being spotted by our clean-up crew, officers from our environmental crime team were able to track down and prosecute this offender," he added.