A Bristol waste company is fined for burning rubbish
The owner of ‘Waste Bristol Limited’ has been ordered to pay over £15,000
A Bristol based waste collector has been ordered to pay a total of £15,228 in fines and costs after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted the company for waste offences.
Mark Anthony Stephens, 59, of Barrowmead Drive, Lawrence Weston, Bristol appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court on Monday 17 March where he pleaded guilty to the offences of Unauthorised Treating, Keeping or Disposal of Waste, Fly-Tipping, and Failing to Produce Waste Transfer Notes.
The court heard that in April 2024, local residents became aware of activity within the car park of Rangeworthy Court, a historic Manor House and former hotel located at Church Lane, Rangeworthy, South Gloucestershire. The hotel is in a semi-rural location, the grounds of which border onto a churchyard and farm.
A white Transit sized tipper truck would arrive after dark and tip waste within the hotel car park. The truck was sign-written ‘Waste Bristol’, and the occupants of the truck would then arrange the waste into a bonfire and set it alight. This would happen on a weekly basis, with the men using an accelerant to ignite the fire. The fire would burn intensely, and the men would remain at the bonfire for up to 45 minutes before driving off to leave the fire to burn out unsupervised. The heat from these fires were causing the roof tiles on an adjacent barn to crack. There were also concerns that embers carried on the wind could ignite a nearby hay barn.
On 24 October 2024, the director of Waste Bristol Limited (an Upper Tier Licensed Waste Carrier), Mark Stephens, was interviewed at the council’s Yate offices. During the interview Stephens confirmed he was the director and sole worker of Waste Bristol Limited. He admitted to regularly attending Rangeworthy Court, having been introduced to the site by a roofing company working there, whom he had taken waste away for. Stephens could not provide any details for this company.
Stephens stated that his subsequent visits to the site were to relax and connect with ‘spirits’ that he sensed were present there.
When shown the photograph of a Waste Bristol truck in front of a bonfire, he denied any involvement stating that the fire was already lit when he arrived there. At the end of the interview he was reported for summons for the offences disclosed.
Councillor Sean Rhodes, cabinet member responsible for environmental enforcement at South Gloucestershire Council, said:
“We want to send a clear message to anyone who fails in their duty of care for waste disposal in South Gloucestershire that they will be brought before the courts. This case saw an unscrupulous waste company ignore all of their legal responsibilities and set alight vast amounts of potentially harmful waste at the historic Rangeworthy Court.
“Our advice to residents, is to be wary of businesses or people advertising waste clearances on social media sites such as Facebook. There are a number of legitimate options for waste removal, including the council’s large household waste collection service. If you hire a third-party to dispose of your waste, always ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken."
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