A property developer who was prosecuted and fined £2,000 for two offences of illegally burning large piles of waste in Tibshelf has seen both convictions upheld on appeal.

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In November 2010 and January 2011, Dennis Rye Ltd contravened the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for burning waste illegally and causing a statutory nuisance – incidents which were investigated by officers from Bolsover District Council, the Fire Service and the Environment Agency in contravention of an Abatement Notice that had been served by the council.

The appeal was held at Derby Crown Court and the judge upheld both convictions (see details below). Although the fine for the first offence was left unchanged at £1,000, the second was reduced to £500 as it was considered a lesser offence and would have caused less smoke nuisance. However, the judge awarded the council an extra £2,750 in court costs relating to the appeal.

After hearing the evidence from the council, the bench decided they were satisfied that:

  1. the burning was not held in a personal capacity by Dennis Rye but was held by the company; and
  2. on both occasions the smoke would have amounted to a nuisance.

Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Dennis Kelly said,

“We are pleased that the judge upheld both convictions but are disappointed with the reduction in fine. The company had blatantly burnt illegal waste and had no regard to local residents and the pollution it created.“


Original prosecution details

Property developer, Dennis Rye Ltd has been prosecuted and ordered to pay over £3,000 for illegally burning large piles of waste in Tibshelf contravening the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Back in November 2010, we received several complaints regarding smoke coming from land on Mansfield Road, Tibshelf. Upon investigation, officers saw a large pile of waste gathered together, which they believed would be burnt. When warned not to burn the waste, the company insisted it intended to do so, relying on an Environment Agency permit despite being advised that the permit did not allow the burning of the types of waste officers had seen. Consequently the officers issued an Abatement Notice, together with a letter of explanation to Dennis Rye on 5th November 2010.

On 5th November 2010 Derbyshire Fire & Rescue attended the premises, and on 28th January 2011 the Environment Agency also attended. On both occasions they witnessed waste being burned illegally. We decided to prosecute for the two incidents of waste burning witnessed.

After hearing evidence from both parties, the Deputy District Judge convicted the company and handed out a £1000 fine for each of the offences together with the Council’s costs of £1130.04 plus the usual victims fund surcharge of £15. The total cost to the company is therefore £3145.04.

Cabinet Member for the environment, Councillor Dennis Kelly said,

“This is a blatant case of disregard for the law, polluting the environment and having no consideration for the local community in Tibshelf. The company had been warned on several occasions about what they could and could not burn, but took no notice. So we had no choice but to seek a prosecution.

“If they had adhered to our original request they could have saved themselves all the hassle of a court appearance and over three thousands pounds in the process, but they chose to ignore us and faced the consequences.”

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