An Eastchurch man is almost £8,000 out of pocket after being caught carrying scrap metal without a licence.

Keith Hodgson, 57, of Warden Road, was found guilty of all charges at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court last Monday, after being prosecuted by Swale council, and ordered to pay a total of £7,697.54.

The fines included £4,000 for failing to provide waste transfer notes, £1,000 for failing to have a waste carrier’s licence and £500 for failing to have a scrap metal licence. A £170 court levy and £2,027.54 prosecution costs were also awarded.

Mr Hodgson had previously received a £500 fine and £200 prosecution costs in 2018 after being prosecuted for similar offences.

After being pulled over by police in Minster, during a joint task force day with the council’s environmental enforcement team in 2019, for carrying scrap metal, Mr Hodgson was given a £300 fixed penalty notice (FPN) after he was unable to produce a valid waste carrier licence or waste transfer notes.

Claiming to be driving the vehicle on behalf of an employer and using their waste carrier licence, it was later found that neither the driver nor alleged employer were licensed scrap metal collectors.

Cllr Julian Saunders, cabinet member for environment at Swale, said: “This is a fantastic result. Mr Hodgson has shown repeated disregard for the law and has now received a fine of more than £7,500 after being prosecuted for a second time for similar offences.

'...We’re pleased the judge was tougher this time around."

“We issued Mr Hodgson with a £300 FPN when he was pulled over by police for not carrying the correct documents, so when that was left unpaid, we wasted no time in prosecuting.

“After being found guilty and paying £700 in 2018 for similar offences, it was clear that it wasn’t a sufficient deterrent, so we’re pleased the judge was tougher this time around.

“It is a legal requirement for waste carriers to have the appropriate licence and waste transfer notes, without these, there is no way to prove that waste has been disposed of properly and can end up being dumped along our roads and countryside.”

To check if someone is a licenced waste carrier visit www.environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers.

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