enviromental protection letter

[IdreamofFairies]

I have received a letter from the council from when I was away on holiday.

The police and criminal evidence act 1984 investigation into unauthorised deposit of controlled waste on land

I have to go for an interview and advised to get legal council.

After thinking about it I realised it must be about me dropping a tissue in a lay by
I remember because it was the only time I have done such a thing. Hence name.

I know its no excuse but we were in a huge rush to get somewhere the hedge was full of rubbish and to my shame I thought one piece would nt make much difference.
It will be over a 3 hour round trip is there anything I can do.
I am happy to pay a fine go down in the holidays to do community service but I really dint want a caution on my record or have to go to court.

Also show I be totally upfront and say is this about the tissue or wait to see what they have to say.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you for reading

Sorry thought I had name changed hence reference to name . Which should have been deeplyashamed

Unless the tissue was coated in Ebola or asbestos, I really don't think this is about a tissue in a hedgerow. I don't see how a tissue, even a germ laden snot rag, could be classed as controlled waste.

Legally all the term "controlled waste" covers household, industrial and commercial waste (Environmental Protection Act 1990 S75(4)). It doesn't have to be hazardous in any way.

thanks for the replies any advice as to how i should deal with this.

hoping thats what i was wondering regarding the tissue but from what prh said then it must be that.

not to minimize the effect that rubbish has on the countryside, i just thought for one small tissue it was a bit overkill two hours travel for an interview then possibly court. surely the cost with working hours and resources to sort this all out must totally eclipse picking up a tissue.

It does seem a little over the top but maybe they have decided to adopt a zero tolerance approach to litter. It is, of course, possible that this is a mistake and they have confused you with someone else who did rather more than drop a tissue.

i can understand their annoyance the hedge was full of rubbish so they must have an ongoing problem

i can only think they were doing some sort of surveillance i would have thought a bin would be cheaper.

i honestly do not know what to do for the best.

Have they detailed the evidence they have of your 'offence'? I recorded a letter like this a while ago and it contained photographic evidence of the items the accusation was based on. As a result of this I was able to successfully refute the charges.

no just said i need to go for an interview under caution and that any correspondence was under caution and could be used in court.

i phone but the person who sent the letter was away and hasn't got back to me.

maybe i will try again monday see if i could do an interview over the phone but i suppose that depends on what 'evidence' they have maybe i would need to look at photos

Have you paid anyone lately to take any rubbish or cuttings or building waste away? If you have and they've fly tipped it, you could be liable for it under env health law. Just another idea.

no we haven't and this is from another country from when we were away on holiday.

i can only assume they got my name and address from the car registration
which is what i was talking about when i said resources.

the man hours to contact the dvla then find my information then send letter . all for a tissue seems mad.

It seems a bit Ott for somewhere an in the spot five could have been issued tbh. I found emailing was mist productive tbh. Could the place where you were staying have flytipped something with your name and address on I?

we stayed at Haven and would like to hope they are careful with their rubbish disposal.

maybe something fell out when the doors and boot was open but i doubt it.

its either all of this over a tissue or is a misunderstanding. will phone again tomorrow and see if i can speak to the person who sent the letter. see if i can get some answers.

Why not ask the people who lose their homes in bushfires if it's 'just a cigarette butt'? I have no problem with a zero tolerance approach to litter bugs.

sorry midnite unsure of the relation between a cigarettes and a tissue.

as i have stated previously i have no problem being fined or doing community service.

i am ashamed that i dropped litter and it was honestly the only time.

i was advised to get legal council but as i had no idea what the letter was regarding i thought here might be a good starting place.

thanks for the reply though

i have just spoken to the lady who sent the letter she was really nice and helpful.

she told me that the fly tipping in question was a plastic bag and a barrel.

this defiantly was not me or anyone i was traveling with. i told her that and she said that a witness had contacted them and said they were willing to go to court.

what can i do. if someone says they are willing to go to court and say they saw someone do something what chance does the person have.

i absolutely did not do this but what chance do i have i cant prove i didn't do it. there were others in the car with me but surely they would be seen as biased.

i have said all this to the lady and she said she will talk to the witness again to see what they say.

i have been in tears over this i am at my wits end

What sort of a barrel? How bizarre?

i know that's what i asked the woman she didn't know they were just acting on information. i mean who carries barrels about.

i am seriously worried about this though

If there was someone in the car with you they can be a witness. I would also ask what kind of vehicle the person making the report claimed you were driving. I presume they traced you through your registration number. If the vehicle claimed doesn't match your car you should point that out.

thank you prh there were 9 of us, 5 over 18 including myself. i did tell her i had witnesses in the car, my worry is they will be judged as being biased.

they did trace me through the car but the person could have seen us there so i would think all my vehicle details are correct.

my only hope is that the witness that came forward admits they may have been mistaken other wise i think i am screwed.

is there any way to fight this even the woman admitted no one its unlikely the court will believe me as i didnt do it is what everyone says

With 4 witnesses over 18 supporting you along with your own evidence I would say you have a decent chance of winning if it goes to court. And don't assume the witness got the vehicle details correct. They got your registration but that doesn't mean they got the right vehicle. It may be that the witness was noting down the registration numbers of everyone who discarded litter, got your registration when you dropped a tissue, also got the registration of someone who dumped a plastic bag and a barrel then confused the two registrations. So you may find that they think the registration number belongs to a completely different vehicle. There is also the question of whether the witnesses description of the individual(s) involved actually matches anyone who was in the vehicle.

thanks for your replies prh i appreciate the help.

i spoke to the lady again and the witness is adamant that he saw a tall male get out of the vehicle, open the side door next to the hedge and take out a few large black bags filled with rubbish and a large metal barrel, that the man then placed in the hedge.

my partner was with me and did get out of the vehicle to take out LO to have a wee. we drive a T5 Volkswagen which is stated on the back but its not a van its a shuttle there are nine seats in it. the witness may have thought it was a van and that's why they thought they could say we dumped such a large amount. hopefully that may make a difference.

i have to write a statement which i can email in stating what happened on that day, then her and her manager will review the case.

i offered to send pictures of my dp to see if the witness can pick him out. i also offered to take a picture through the side door to show there are seats there and there is no room for all the things dumped.

i asked if she needed my daughter to write a statement now as she will be going away in a few weeks so not available.

she said i can send pics if i want but she doesn't need them only a written statement. tbh i think me asking over and over what can i do, shall i do this .. was a bit draining for her she kept saying just an email.

i am wondering if the witness saw us there, maybe pulling away as they pulled in, made a note of number plate then dumped the rubbish them selves, gave our details just in case their vehicle was reported being in the area.

a long shot i know but what other reason could someone have for saying such a thing.

You need to send as much information as possible, including a statement from your daughter, photos inside and outside of the car. If possible put all the people that were in the car on the day on question.

You are under no obligation to go for the interview - you don't even have to provide information but by doing this you are aiding their investigation and they can't hold this against you.

The council will need to prove in court that it was you dumping the rubbish beyond reasonable doubt - if you can't physically fit the stuff into the car then I would say that there was reasonable doubt. If the council's legal team see this there is now way they would let the case get to court.

To get a caution, you have to accept guilt, you obviously aren't going to do this. So the council have the option of dropping the case because of lack of evidence or trying their luck in court. Send the information in and ask to speak to the Principal Officer in charge of the case.

Bet you won't drop another tissue, hope you find out what's going to happen soon.

thank you so much loler that has been really helpful.

she did say i don't have to do anything, but i thought maybe by not providing a statement it would make us seem guilty. and more likely to go to court i said to her i am happy to do what ever you ask i just want this sorted it has been so stressful.

the worst part is that honestly that has been the only time i have ever dropped rubbish. i know people reading this will think this all serves me right for being a litter bug. but i don't think i needed to have suffered as much as i have. i have literally been up for nights on end worrying not being able to sleep.

up date and more advice if anyone has some please.

i wrote a statement and sent pictures as suggested and just found out today they are taking the case no further.

this is purely because they have no evidence other than a witness statement nothing to do with what i have said.

we are going to get a warning letter stating don't do it again sort of thing and our information and car registration details will be kept on file in case we are accused again.

i said i didn't think that was fair as it implies we did something wrong. if for any reason in the future someone again makes a false statement then they will see we were previously warned about it. then make their own conclusion. there is a high chance we will be in the area plenty of times in the future we often holiday near there.

the woman was less than helpful, i asked about the statement and pictures i had provided, didn't they help. she said she doesn't know if i didn't do anything, its not her job to decide if i did it or not, that's what the court is for.

if i don't like it i can go to court.

what should i do now

Time to leave it and walk away. Even if you are falsely accused again a single witness statement is very unlikely to be enough to get a conviction.