Portsmouth fly-tipper ordered to pay £810 by court

Tesilm Adeyemi, of Essex Road, Southsea, was tracked down by a Portsmouth City Council officer using evidence found in the bags, which were dumped at Fort Cumberland Road car park in Eastney last March.

Adeyemi agreed to pay a £75 fixed penalty for the offence, but the payment never arrived despite reminders and the council took court action.

This week he failed to appear before Portsmouth magistrates and was found guilty of littering in his absence.

He was fined £440 and told to pay a £44 victim surcharge plus costs of £326.

Councillor Dave Ashmore, the council's cabinet member for environment and climate change, said it was a 'frustrating' incident. He said: 'This was a very expensive mistake by this person. We will not tolerate fly-tipping and I'm glad the courts also regard it as a serious matter.

'This is a particularly frustrating case because so much of the rubbish could have been easily recycled. Recycling means you have more room for your ordinary rubbish.'

It comes after another Southsea resident, Andrew Turner, was fined nearly £2,500 last week by magistrates for fly-tipping in Spencer Road.

Officials in Portsmouth warned residents against fly-tipping last year after a government report showed and increase of more than 200 incidents from the previous year.

For help with recycling and rubbish residents can search 'recycling and rubbish' on the Portsmouth City Council website.