A GARAGE owner has been fined after he was caught red-handed dumping tyres and old car parts into a Waddon flat block's bins.
Ramiz Laci, 39, who owns M & R Cars, was ordered to pay almost £7,000 by a judge at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (August 5) after pleading guilty to two offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
He had been caught by residents at Duppas Court in Waddon off-loading his trade waste into their bin shed on several occasions in July and August last year.
A resident took photographs and passed them on to former Waddon councillor Tony Harris, who passed them on to Croydon Council's environmental enforcement service for investigation.
Laci, of Haling Park Road, South Croydon, initially claimed someone else had borrowed his van as he had been identified as its registered owner.
However, he later admitted he had dumped the parts himself and that he knew the bins were only for the use of residents.
Businesses must pay for their rubbish to be disposed of by a properly licensed company by law.
Laci was fined £1,600 and made to pay costs of more than £5,000.
Councillor Stuart Collins, cabinet member for a clean and green Croydon, said: "This sentence proves it's not worth trying to mess with Croydon. Our new campaign will bring more of these prosecutions to court far quicker as we gather evidence against the people who illegally dump their rubbish around the borough.
"Fly-tipping and avoiding trade waste costs really doesn't pay in the long term because once we catch people we will make sure they face the consequences in court."
