Businesses warned over dumping rubbish
Three businesses - including Starbucks in Ealing have been taken to court for not clearing up their rubbish.
The prosecutions at Ealing Magistrates Court on Friday 27 January follow investigations by Ealing Council’s Envirocrime team.
Mr Dhirajlal Ranchod Samani, owner of Londis at 74 Bilton Road, Perivale, appeared in court to plead guilty to seven charges of failing to prevent staff dumping waste on the street in August last year.
CCTV footage showed staff from Londis wheeling up to five black plastic sacks of rubbish per day in a shopping trolley to flytip them beside a litterbin on the street.
Mr Samani was fined £900 and ordered to pay costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £15, bringing the total to £1,315.
In a second prosecution on the same day at Ealing Magistrates Court, Harsimran Textiles Ltd clothing store at 40 South Road, Southall, was fined £700 plus costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £15, totalling £1,215.00
Company director Rajvinder Singh Bhatia pleaded guilty to seven offences of failing to prevent staff from dumping waste. CCTV footage from June and July 2011 showed staff repeatedly dumping bin bags of waste on the footpath, making the area untidy.
Both businesses had already received advice on correct disposal of business waste from council environment officers.
In a third case at Ealing Magistrates Court, Starbucks Coffee Company was fined for not ensuring that any waste not collected by its contractor by 10am at its Ealing Broadway branch was taken back to the premises. This meant that several sacks of rubbish were left out on the footpath all day.
The coffee shop had previously been given fixed penalty notices by Ealing Council on two separate occasions. On the third occasion the company was taken to court and ordered to pay an £800 fine, costs of £566.03 and a victim surcharge of £15; bringing the total to £1,381.03.
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for Transport and Environment said: “Keeping our streets clean is a priority in Ealing and businesses who think that they can get away with breaking the law by dumping rubbish where they like, need to think again. We work closely with businesses to ensure they understand the law and the part they must play in keeping Ealing clean so there is no excuse for fly-tipping or not ensuring that your waste is disposed of properly.
“These prosecutions demonstrate that fly-tipping of any kind won’t be tolerated and I would urge people to report fly-tipping on our 24-hour Grimebusters hotline on 020 8825 8825.”
1st February 2012