Two brothers who used trucks belonging to their businesses to repeatedly dump waste in the same locations have been fined by the courts.

CCTV cameras installed by Kirklees Council at a fly-tipping hotspot near the railway viaduct in Batley caught James and William Warren’s lorries in the act, despite them denying knowledge of the offending.

In September 2021, a white Scania tipper truck registered to Hetton Transport Ltd was filmed at the scene on three consecutive days dumping a load of soil and hardcore near the viaduct. James Matthew Warren, the sole director of the company which had premises just minutes away at 226 Bradford Road, denied fly-tipping, claiming the truck had been sub-leased to his brother at the time.

However, the CCTV footage had also caught another Scania tipper, this time a red vehicle, at the site later the same month, again dumping soil and hardcore. This one was registered to W A Holding Ltd, based at the same premises and with William Andrew Warren as the only director.

During the investigation, environmental health officers received a call from staff at JD Gyms on Bradford Road, whose own security cameras had caught two further fly-tipping incidents involving the red Scania on land behind the gym at the end of the month. William Warren claimed that a rogue employee had dumped the waste without his knowledge.

The brothers appeared at Kirklees Magistrates Court this week, and after a full-day hearing were found guilty of fly-tipping and failing to provide waste transfer documents.

James, 36, of Moor Lane, Bradford, was fined £1,096 and ordered to pay £879 in costs, while William, 34, of Troon Way, Huddersfield, was fined £1,107 and ordered to pay costs of £1,029.

Coun Masood Ahmed said: “In these cases, our covert cameras and co-operation from local businesses were the key to helping us successfully locate and prosecute those responsible. We try to place CCTV cameras at as many hotspots as possible, but our teams also rely on businesses and residents to be vigilant and help us to keep Kirklees clean.

“Businesses have a duty to use the correct waste disposal methods, including completing waste transfer notes and checking that their waste carriers are registered. There are thousands of businesses in Kirklees who dispose of their waste responsibly, and for the few that think they are above the law, our teams will use everything in their power to track them down and make them pay.”

Find out more about responsible disposal on the council’s website https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/bulkywaste

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Yorkshire transport companies fined for fly-tipping after using their trucks to dump waste on the same land several times