ROADS contractor South West Highways was ordered to pay more than £4,600 in fines and costs by magistrates in Plymouth last Thursday, after pleading guilty to illegally disposing of waste near Tavistock .
In a case brought by the Environmment Agency, the court heard two agency officers visited Pitts Cleave Quarry on September 30 last year, after reports that several trailer loads of mixed waste had been seen entering the quarry.
The officers saw the driver of a South West Highways Ltd tipper lorry dump the load of mixed green waste, which was predominantly ivy, at the quarry.
Magistrates heard that when questioned, the driver admitted he had brought five loads of waste to the quarry from a South West Highways job in Tavistock.
David Clements, the South West Highways divisional manager, told the Environment Agency he had authorised a team to remove vegetation from a wall at Springhill in Tavistock.
He said South West Highways had a verbal agreement with the quarry owner for three years to dispose of waste.
Mike Bray, South West Highways agent, said he presumed that if green waste went to the quarry, it would be put into a skip for transfer to another site.
South West Highways admitted depositing waste on unlicensed land and failing to transfer waste to an authorised person, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act. The firm was fined £2,500 for the first offence and £500 for the second and ordered to pay £1,660 costs.