A man in charge of a Self Drive Hire van has been ordered to pay almost £1,000 in court after he ignored a legal notice from Barking and Dagenham Council to identify the driver of a vehicle at the time of an offence.

On the 10 April 2022, the driver of the van was caught by the council’s CCTV camera illegally disposing litter onto the grassed verge at Knightsbridge Road, Barking.

After further investigation, it was discovered that a Mr Houchine Kaddouri was in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence, and he was served with a Driver Identification Notice on the 23 May to provide the details of the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident. He failed to respond to the notice which is an offence in itself and punishable with a maximum £1000 fine

However, as at the 24 June, Mr Kaddouri of Forbes Close, Cricklewood hadn’t responded and the case was taken to court.

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety said: “Whether it is littering or fly-tipping, we don’t stand for people thinking it is okay to make our streets dirty by chucking rubbish on the floor.

“We have CCTV placed around the borough to prevent this type of antisocial behaviour and I am glad this person was caught red handed by one of our cameras.”

The case was heard on Tuesday 15 November where the defendant was found guilty of failing to provide details of the driver and was ordered to pay a £440 fine, £514 in costs to Barking and Dagenham Council and a Victim Surcharge of £44, totalling £998 – to be paid within 28 days.