COUNCIL chiefs have issued a warning about dumping rubbish in the countryside as they told how they had brought a flytipper to justice.

Dominic Adrian Woods, 31, of Weymouth is due to be sentenced after being found guilty following a trial at the magistrates court of dumping waste he had collected from a pub. He admitted another offence of flytipping involving waste left at units in Dorchester and two offences of failing to provide waste transfer notes which is a legal requirement.

The case was brought to court following work by Dorset Waste Partnership enforcement officers, Dorset Council’s Legal Services and the police.

They investigated Woods who ran a company called ‘Hashtag Trashtag’ but had also traded as ‘Trashtag Clearances’ and ‘Weymouth Vandyman’. The services he advertised – primarily through social media – included tip runs and clearances.

Dorset Council said the Dorchester offence in July last year involved Woods leaving a large amount of household waste at storage units he had been renting at The Grove. The waste had previously been collected from a Dorchester householder.

When Woods failed to keep up with payments on the units he was ordered to clear them out but failed to do so – the waste was removed at a substantial cost to the owner.

In the same month the manager of a bar in Weymouth contacted Woods asking him to remove around 40 bags of waste.

Some of this waste was later discovered dumped in the Whitcombe area.

After multiple requests to attend an interview were ignored by Woods, he was traced to premises on Portland and arrested on suspicion of fly-tipping.

Woods confirmed he ran a company called ‘Hashtag Trashtag’ but said he wasn’t aware that he needed an environmental permit to keep waste at the Dorchester units.

Regarding the Whitcombe flytip, Woods claimed the bar waste was was glass which was recycled. When confronted with the fact that the waste recovered comprised of till receipts, plastic mugs and paper towels, Woods denied flytipping.

The court was also made aware that enforcement officers had previously dealt with Woods in February 2018, handing him fixed penalties for flytipping at Whitcombe and for failing to produce waste transfer notes.

Because of this investigation, Woods' vehicle was seized.

Woods will be sentenced on Monday, August 12.

Jeremy Gallagher, Enforcement Officer at the Dorset Waste Partnership, said: "We understand how people might be tempted to use rubbish disposal services from unverified businesses, especially those found online. However, if the price is too good to be true, the chances are that your waste is unlikely to be disposed of responsibly.

"Always make sure you use trustworthy services if you need help disposing of waste, and always get a waste transfer bote from whoever you are handing it to that shows what the waste is, who is taking it and where it is going. This will protect you from possible prosecution if your waste is found flytipped.”