York business ordered to pay nearly £20,000 for fly-tipping

An investigation by City of York Council has uncovered and prosecuted a serious case of fly-tipping in the city, as part of Operation Eyeball a multi-agency campaign to tackle illegal waste disposal.

Haizhou Zhou (aged 46 of Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick, York) appeared yesterday [7 May 2019] at York Magistrates, where he pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and a related waste disposal offence.

Mr Zhou and two unknown male accomplices were caught on CCTV arriving at Ocean Corals and Reptiles, Clifton Moor, York, on 26 May 2018.

The three men discarded waste from a hire van into a skip next to the business. The waste included black waste bags, a wooden pallet, strips of plastic, cardboard, and wooden boards.

City of York Council officers noted that some of the waste recovered from the site belonged to Pegasus Textiles, registered as Pegasus World Ltd, Outgang Lane, York, for which Mr Zhou is the company director.

The incident cost the owners of Ocean Corals and Reptiles £228 for an additional skip to get rid of the extra waste.

York Magistrates fined Pegasus Textiles Ltd £13,200 yesterday [7 May 2019], he was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £1012.64 as well as repayment of the waste costs.

Mr Zhou was fined £3938, ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £500, as well as £228 compensation to Ocean Corals and Reptiles.

The council is working with North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Crime team and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to lead on the development of the Operation Eyeball (cross-county work to reduce fly-tipping).

Together, this campaign aims to support communities to find alternative ways to recycle and reuse their waste, rather than resulting to fly-tipping.

To check if a carrier is licenced, visit: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers or call the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506.

Residents can take waste to our household waste recycling centres – see www.york.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling – or can arrange for the council to collect it via www.york.gov.uk/BulkyWaste. Up to ten items can be taken so why not join together with neighbours?