A FLY-TIPPER has been fined more than £3,000 for dumping waste in a village near Basingstoke.

Lyle Berends, 29, of Lychpit, pleaded guilty to fly-tipping when he appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates Court on Thursday, 11 July.

Berends, was spotted by a member of the public dumping furniture from a hire van into a privately-owned field off Shothanger Lane, Wootton St Lawrence on Wednesday, 26 April 2017.

Dumped waste found at the scene included a sofa bed, large office chairs, fabric panels and a microwave.

The 29-year-old was fined £1,835 and ordered to pay £1,400 costs, plus £170 victim surcharge.

He will pay a total of £3,405.

This was the first of two successful prosecutions by the council that were heard at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court last on July 11.

Wayne Rolfe, 53, of Widmore Road, Kempshott, was ordered to pay £613 after being caught dumping household waste consisting of soil, turf and a plastic bag in a privately controlled Basingstoke car park.

He pleaded guilty and was convicted of a fly-tipping offence after images from a camera system at Battledown car park, Pack Lane, were passed to the council for investigation.

The images showed a white plastic bin bag and green waste from garden waste bags being thrown from a car onto the ground.

Magistrates fined Rolfe £330 and ordered him to pay £250 towards prosecution costs plus £33 in victim surcharge, a total of £613.

Leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Cllr Ken Rhatigan said: “We take fly-tipping extremely seriously and it is heartening to see that the courts share our views.

“Dumped waste is a real blight on our borough. We will take action against those responsible, whether the fly-tipping is on private or public land, and I would encourage anyone with any information about an incident to contact us directly.

“It’s thanks to these reports that we can continue to bring successful prosecutions.”