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....following altercation with refuse collectors.
Following an altercation with Wiltshire Council’s contracted refuse collectors over a refused bin collection, a Hilperton resident has been prosecuted and fined for fly-tipping.
A crew from Hills Municipal Collections, the council’s waste contractor, were emptying recycling bins on Carisbrooke Cresent on 28 June 2023, when a Land Rover Freelander vehicle pulled up in front of the refuse vehicle, blocking their path.
The owner of the vehicle, later identified by Wiltshire Police as Reuben Spong, proceeded to take a blue-lidded wheelie bin out of the car and wheeled it towards the back of the refuse lorry.
The refuse driver pressed the red emergency cut off button, preventing Mr Spong from being able to load the bin into the lorry. Mr Spong then confronted the member of staff, ripping the red contaminated warning label off the bin that had been placed on by the refuse crew earlier that morning, asking if the loader was going to “f****** take it”.
The refuse loader advised that the bin would need to have the contaminated items removed before it could be emptied. Mr Spong pushed the bin towards the staff member, who opened the lid and seeing that it still contained the large, bulky plastic items, advised that he could not empty it.
At this point, Mr Spong grabbed the bin, tipped the contents all over the road, wheeled it back to his car and drove off. The bin had been tagged with a red hanger as part of the council’s Recycling- let’s sort it! awareness campaign, as it contained incorrect recycling and contaminated items. In this case, the bin contained large broken black plastic items and food waste, which cannot be accepted for recycling – the food waste should be added to the general household waste bin.
The council’s Environmental Enforcement Officers were able to trace the owner of the vehicle with assistance from Wiltshire Police and he was prosecuted for fly-tipping.
Mr Spong was due to attend Swindon Magistrates Court on 27 September but left before his hearing and was subsequently issued with a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested on 30 October, and on 8 November at Swindon Magistrates Court pleaded guilty to fly-tipping.
He was fined a total of £1133.00 including costs.