A SITE manager who polluted the atmosphere by allowing plastic cables to be burned on a bonfire has been fined £1,500 and told to pay £520 court costs.
Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough Council prosecuted Mike Tilston, of MDT Landscape and Building contractors, at Chester Magistrates Court.
The prosecution related to an incident on January 27 at the former Parkgate Nursing Home in The Parade, Parkgate.
The council's environmental protection unit received a complaint from a member of the public about a large bonfire that was spewing dark smoke into the air.
Two officers visited the site to find plastic cables burning on a bonfire - an offence under the 1993 Clean Act - leading them to officially caution and question the site manager.
The site manager of the Wirral company had already been warned several months earlier that burning materials that produce dark smoke was an offence.
The council's head of environmental services, Mike Whittaker, said: 'Improving air quality in the borough is one of the council's key priorities. We take very seriously offences of this nature and will prosecute people who break the law and persist in polluting our air.
'We carefully monitor air pollution levels on a daily basis. As a result, air quality in Ellesmere Port and Neston is extremely good and compares favourably with many less-urbanised areas, and we want to keep it that way.'
CONTACT POINT
To report smoke pollution or any other air quality issue, phone the council's Airwatch helpline on 0151 356 6633.
