Three men fined over Alston illegal waste sites

Clarghyll Colliery was one of four sites in Alston where the illegal dumping of items such as scrap vehicles and mixed waste took place

Three men have been fined for operating four illegal waste sites.

The trio were guilty of the illegal dumping of items like scrap vehicles in Alston, Cumbria.

Keith Liverick, 74, of Station Road, Alston, was fined £1,980, his son Paul, 51, of the same address, was fined £2,566 and Frank Shepherd, 77, of Leadgate, Alston, was fined £666.

An Environmental Agency spokesperson said the three men "showed a blatant disregard for the environment".

They operated four different sites in the town - Clarghyll Colliery, Old Foundry Yard, Rotherthorpe Old Mine and land at the rear of Moredun Garage.

The men had varying environmental permits and permit exemptions in place to allow for restricted waste deposits and activities, but none had a permit to allow for the importing, depositing, treatment or sorting of mixed waste.

'Deliberately and persistently'

Between August and November 2018, Environment Agency Officers made visits to each of the four sites, where they found large amounts of illegal deposits such as scrap vehicles, skips of household waste, plastics, timber and construction waste.

Over the next two years, officers tried to work with the operators to bring the sites into compliance, but advice and notices were largely ignored.

"They deliberately and persistently allowed the deposit and storage of waste on these sites knowing the activity was illegal and presented a risk of harm to the environment," said Andrew Turner, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in the North East.

"They did this in the face of officers working hard to encourage compliance."

Keith Liverick pleaded guilty at Carlisle Magistrates' Court on Wednesday to two charges of operating illegal waste sites.

At the same hearing, his son admitted operating one illegal waste site and two charges of illegally depositing waste.

Shepherd had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one charge of operating an illegal waste site, and a second of burning waste on land.

As well as those offences, the three men were ordered to pay costs totalling £3,950 and a combined victim surcharge of £440.