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....£1,000 fly-tipping fine.
A Swindon resident has been issued with a £1,000 fixed penalty notice (FPN) for fly-tipping after a member of the public witnessed the offence and reported it to Wiltshire Council.
On 24 August, a member of the public was driving along a country road near Swindon Road, Royal Wootton Bassett, when they spotted a vehicle stopped on the roadside.
The witness saw the driver dumping a blue bag of waste on to the grass verge before getting back into the vehicle and driving away. They took a photograph of the vehicle, noted the registration number and reported the incident to Wiltshire Council.
The waste consisted of a single blue plastic bag containing garden waste.
The council's Environmental Enforcement Team investigated the report and traced the vehicle to a Swindon resident. During an interview under caution, the woman admitted responsibility for the offence and apologised.
She explained that while shopping in Royal Wootton Bassett, she decided to dispose of the waste and drove down the lane before attempting to empty the contents of the bag on to the verge. Although the act was interrupted when another vehicle approached, the waste had already been dumped.
The admission, alongside the witness statement and photographic evidence, provided sufficient evidence for enforcement action. A £1,000 FPN was issued and paid in full. As FPNs are not criminal convictions, the person involved cannot be named.
This offence took place before Wiltshire Council introduced its revised fly-tipping fixed penalty regime on 1 September 2026. Under the new arrangements, offenders can now face scaled fixed penalty notices of up to £5,000, depending on the severity of the offence. As the incident occurred before the changes came into effect, it was dealt with under the previous £1,000 fixed penalty framework.
In recognition of the valuable information provided, the witness received a £100 high street voucher through the council's We’re Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) witness reward scheme.