Council fines roofer £300 ...over empty crisp packets in his own van
HAVING finished his lunch on the go, Stewart Gosling thought he was being a good citizen.
Rather than risk creating litter, the roofer carefully stored the packaging in a bag in his white van.
But in his efforts to be considerate and law-abiding, he made a costly mistake.
The 43-year-old put the rubbish in a large reinforced plastic commercial waste bag, along with several days’ worth of crisp packets, sandwich wrappers, plastic drinks bottles and newspapers.
Mr Gosling, who intended to empty it at home later, thought nothing of it as he carried on with his work.
However, as he drove through Chingford, East London, he was pulled over by council officers carrying out spot checks. They told him they were fining him £300 for carrying commercial waste without a licence – because the rubbish was in a builder’s refuse bag and he was driving a trader’s van.
Mr Gosling appealed against the roadside penalty but he has now been threatened with being taken to court if he does not pay.
He said: ‘It’s so infuriating. The workingclass man gets penalised for going to work, basically. I’ve not fly-tipped. I’ve not left it in someone’s garden. It’s frustrated the hell out of me.’
He normally uses the tough bags to contain the mess he cleans from gutters, leaving them for the customer to dispose of.
He said: ‘There was just a bag of rubbish, bottles, crisp packets, newspapers and sandwich wrappers. What gets me is the lack of common sense. It’s a lot of money for one bag of rubbish.’
The contractor, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, was stopped by Waltham Forest Council officers on May 23. After searching his vehicle, they asked if he had a waste carriers’ licence from the Environment Agency.
‘I got out of the van and had a look,’ Mr Gosling said. ‘They were talking about a plastic bag around 2ft high, which was filled with rubbish from my lunch. He just said, “You’re going to get fined”.’
The married father of four – who does not have a waste licence as the rubbish from his jobs is left in skips on-site or taken away by licensed disposal firms – was given the fixed penalty notice for ‘failure to furnish documentation (waste carriers licence)’.
He was ordered to pay the fine within 14 days. He appealed and there was a long delay as he waited for a response, he said.
When the appeal was declined he asked for a clarification about the cost of the fine and says he was on holiday when the local authority replied.
The tradesman now faces prosecution – and a maximum fine of £5,000 – but insists he will not pay the fixed penalty.
‘It seems a bit steep, to be honest,’ he said. ‘A warning would have been more understandable.’
Waltham Forest Council said: ‘The waste in this case was being transported in a commercial refuse bag in the trader’s vehicle.
‘Regardless of what the items are, if waste is being stored in a commercial refuse bag in a trader’s van it is necessary that they have a valid waste carrier’s licence.
‘It is widely recognised as best practice for tradesmen to be licensed to avoid legal repercussions in the event they are required to transport even small quantities of waste.’
‘Penalised for going to work’