A BUSINESSMAN has been fined £30,000 over a five-day blaze involving thousands of illegally stored tyres.

David McIntyre, of Tennyson Road, Whitby, was also made to pay £2,279 costs to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution.

McIntyre pleaded guilty to five charges of breaching conditions of a waste management licence, in contravention of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston magistrates heard McIntyre held the licence for a site at 31 Bumpers Lane, Chester, from which he operated Deva Car Dismantlers.

The licence contained conditions to protect the environment, the amenity of the area and site security.

Between January and September 2003, agency officers observed thousands of inappropriately stored tyres on the site, which was entitled to hold no more than 1,000.

McIntyre said he'd inherited many of these from a previous occupier.

Officers also saw cars stored outside of the licensed area, the perimeter fence in disrepair, car batteries and oily engines improperly stored and spillages not removed.

Despite these breaches being drawn to McIntyre's attention, there was no major improvement in the situation. A formal notice was served on him but he didn't comply with it, the court heard.

Then, in April 2003, a large fire occurred at the site, which burned for five days due to the number of tyres stored there.

McIntyre has since left the site, which he occupied by agreement with Chester City Council, which owns the freehold.

It was eventually left to the council to arrange for the removal of the tyres and for the area to be cleared.

Following the case, Ann Weedy, agency team leader, said: 'This prosecution demonstrates the serious consequences for the environment of non-compliance with licence conditions, especially on sites storing large quantities of tyres.

'Operators of those sites which persistently ignore licence conditions will face the consequences.'