Portsmouth housing company Powerscourt Property Ltd given huge fine after rubbish dumped in back garden

Powerscourt Property Ltd have been slapped with a charge of over £50,000 after trash was piled up at 257 Queen’s Road, North End. They were issued a community protection notice by Portsmouth City Council after receiving several complaints from residents.

The local authority said the company failed to secure the property against unlawful entry and failed to abide by the notice. A legal case was referred to Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on August 27. Nobody associated with Powerscourt Property Ltd attended court, with the case being heard in their absence.

The court found the company guilty and they were fined £50,000, alongside a £2,000 victim surcharge and £670 in costs. Councillor Lee Hunt, cabinet member for community safety, leisure and sport, hailed the result as a deterrence to fly-tipping.

“Everyone deserves to live in a safe, clean and tidy environment and this case goes to show the power local residents have to alert us to situations such as fly tipping, rubbish that has been put out ahead of bin day, dumped waste or any other rubbish that is causing a nuisance,” the Liberal Democrat politician for Nelson ward said.

“We won't tolerate this kind of behaviour and we will issue fines when we need to; as the local ward councillor I welcome the substantial fine as a strong deterrent to others.” Residents can report fly-tipping on the council website.