Residents are being warned about the risks of using ‘man with a van’ adverts to get rid of rubbish, after a couple from north London were fined £200 for fly-tipping in the borough. 

Enforcement officers from Barking and Dagenham Council discovered a large number of cardboard boxes and bin bags dumped on New Road, Dagenham, in May this year. 

Upon investigation of the waste, they found an address for north London and contacted the named person, where they discovered a couple had searched for a ‘man with a van’ online and paid £160 for the rubbish to be taken away. 

The couple didn’t receive any paperwork for the transaction and accepted they had failed to show a “duty of care” by giving their rubbish to the man without knowing if he had a waste carrier licence – a legal right to transport it. They were issued a £200 fixed penalty notice under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. 

With their help, council officers tracked down the ‘man with a van’ that they used, and he admitted in an interview under caution to having collected the rubbish and his father, who also attended the interview, admitted fly-tipping the waste.

We are determined to tackle grime crime in Barking and Dagenham, so our advice is to make sure you use a proper registered waste company or call the council to come and take away your bulky rubbish.

Councillor Margaret Mullane, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said: “This demonstrates we all have a responsibility when it comes to tackling fly-tipping and while it might be tempting find a cheap and cheerful ‘man with a van’, the reality is it could end up costing you more than a few quid – you could wind up with a criminal record.

“We are determined to tackle grime crime in Barking and Dagenham, so our advice is to make sure you use a proper registered waste company or call the council to come and take away your bulky rubbish.”

Earlier this month the council introduced increased fines for offenders caught fly-tipping from £150 to £400. 

Last year the council cleared fly-tipping from across the borough that weighed in at around 461 tons – the equivalent of 36 double-decker buses.

The owner of the West Ham based removal company, which carried out the collection of the rubbish, was fined £300 under section 5 of the Control Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 for failing to produce a waste carrier licence. 

The father of the business owner, who admitted to fly-tipping the rubbish, was fined £300 under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

In total, the removal of the north London couple’s rubbish resulted in £800 worth of fines being issued. All have been paid in full. 

Residents can report fly-tipping online.