Princes Risborough woman fined for fly-tipping after cabinets found dumped in Bucks

A woman from Princes Risborough has been fined after admitting to a fly-tipping offence committed in Buckinghamshire.

Mary Nolan Purcell, 57, from Greenlands in Princess Risborough, was fined after someone was filmed dumping waste out of her car.

Purcell was fined £2,000 after pleading guilty to illegal dumping at High Wycombe Magistrates Court hearing on 18 October.

She was fined in relation to an incident on Tuesday 28 December 2021, when wooden cabinets were found dumped in Longland Way in Castlefield, Buckinghamshire.

A camera belonging to a local resident recorded the suspect’s vehicle arriving at the location during the day.

Video footage showed the passenger of the vehicle getting waste out of the car and dumping it on the ground, before the vehicle vacated the premises.

Bucks Council discovered the vehicle belonged to Purcell. She attended a meeting at the council’s Aylesbury building where she admitted to owning the vehicle, but denied being involved in the fly-tipping.

Purcell was still found to be liable for the dumping, as vehicle owners must exercise 'all due diligence' to avoid their vehicles being used to dump waste illegally.

If not, they are viewed as having 'knowingly caused' the illegal deposit of waste and held responsible for the offence.

Magistrates fined Miss Purcell £300 and ordered her to pay a contribution of £1,800 towards Bucks Council’s clean up and investigation costs.

A victim surcharge of £34 was also levied – making a total to pay of £2,134.

Bucks Council encourages residents to report fly-tipping offences on its website.

Councillor Gareth Williams said: “This case shows how we will use all evidence available to us when it comes to prosecuting criminals for fly-tipping in Buckinghamshire. It costs the Council a vast amount of money every year to clean up the mess left by those who think that fly-tipping is acceptable. It is only right that the perpetrators are forced to contribute towards these costs. There is no excuse for fly-tipping. These items could have been taken to one of our Household Recycling Centres and disposed of legally and easily.”