12-month prison sentenced issued to illegal landfill site owner

A 12-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of £100,000 has been issued to a Cheshire land owner for illegally landfilling thousands of tonnes of waste.

The Environment Agency (EA) found that Eric Hale of Bank Top Farm, had been dumping tens of thousands of tonnes of waste on his land without the appropriate environmental permit.

Hale’s waste removal company, Eric Hale Skip Hire, had been using the 19-acre farm to dispose of the majority of its waste material to avoid paying for the use of a legitimate site.

Hale, along with two other men, Dennis Whiting and Stefan Street, were witnessed driving large waste vehicles onto Bank Top Farm and depositing a mixture of waste on the site, including carpets, mattresses and demolition waste.

The Environment Agency worked closely with the police and local authorities and found that most of the waste collected by Eric Hale Skip Hire was illegally dumped and landfilled at Bank Top Farm instead of being taken to a legitimate waste site.

Eric Hale pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £100,000, sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for two years, disqualified from driving for 12 months, order to work 200 hours unpaid and received a three month curfew.

Dennis Whiting and Stefan Street also each received a conditional discharge for two years after pleading guilty to dumping and landfilling controlled waste without a permit.

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