A van has been crushed after it was found by Trafford Council officers to have been used to dump waste. The van was captured fly-tipping waste on a lay-by on Manchester Road in Carrington using covert camera equipment on four separate occasions last year. Checks were made with the DVLA to find out who owned the van – but the checks found that the van was not registered to a keeper.
Council officers from the Environmental Improvement team then made checks with the CCTV control room to see if they could locate where the vehicle had gone following one of the fly-tipping incidents. The vehicle was tracked to the Partington area of Trafford.
Officers carried out an area search in Partington and found the vehicle on Wood Lane. The van was then seized on 1 September using powers set out in the Environmental Protection 1990. The vehicle has been in storage since that date and nobody has come forward to claim ownership, leading to the Council sending the van for destruction on Thursday, 22 February.
Cllr Stephen Adshead, Executive Member for Highways, Environmental and Traded Services, said:
“Let this be a warning to anyone thinking of blighting our communities by dumping waste. We will use whatever powers we have available to us to stop fly-tipping in our communities.
“If we see it, our officers will not stop investigating. You can either dispose of waste properly or you can face a fine of up to £50,000, imprisonment and having your vehicle seized and crushed.
“There is no excuse.”
Posted on Tuesday 12th March 2024