Boston Council defends three bottles fly-tipping fine

Boston Borough Council has released footage showing the bottles been dumped at the site

The council at the centre of a fly-tipping row has defended its actions in fining a man after three bottles were dumped at a recycling point.

Neil Robinson and his wife claimed the bins at the site at Tesco in Boston were full after they received a £400 fine.

Boston Borough Council said the bins had plenty of capacity at the time and has released CCTV footage.

Mr Robinson maintains it was full at the time his wife visited.

The council said the decision to release the footage was prompted by what it said were "inaccurate reports" about the incident.

In a statement, it said following a review of the CCTV it was "apparent that the individual who exits the vehicle makes no effort to check the capacity of the bottle banks".

"The individual is seen removing a black bag from the vehicle and then placing it directly on the ground next to a clothing bank."

The council said there was plenty of capacity in the bins at the site when Mr Robinson left his bottles on the ground

Mr Robinson said the decision to release the footage was an attempt to deflect attention from the council's "draconian" policies.

"Their actions are abhorrent and show their reluctance to accept that it is not an effective policy," he said.

Referring back to the incident, he said it had been his wife's first visit to the recycling point.

"She parked next to what she could see was a bottle bank.

"She observed from the car it was full. She then took the bottles in a bag and placed them carefully next to the bin."

He said she also placed some tissues in the waste bin.

"Is that the actions of a fly tipper? I don't think so," he added.

The council refuted this and said: "We also checked with our contractor who provided data showing that the hoppers still had an available capacity of 4.528 tonnes when they were collected four days later.

"This proves beyond any doubt that there was plenty of room for those three prosecco bottles to be disposed of in the correct manner."

The council added there are signs warning people not to leave items on the ground.

Neil Robinson said he did not consider himself a fly-tipper

Council leader Anne Dorian said the Boston Independent Group had received a clear mandate in May's council elections to address issues of fly-tipping.

"I am proud that the council has developed a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping across our borough, including at the Bring Sites like Tesco and Asda car parks."

She said anyone who fly-tipped waste could expect a fixed penalty notice.

Mr Robinson said he thought the council should stop targeting people who were "clearly trying to do the right thing".