A FLY-TIPPER was ordered to pay £700 for dumping trade waste on land in Ellesmere Port.

Stephen Challinor has been ordered to pay nearly £700 after he was found guilty of illegally dumping the waste.

Challinor denied responsibility after packaging bearing the name and address of his business was discovered on land adjacent to North Road, Ellesmere Port.

Following an investigation by Cheshire West and Chester Council Streetscene Enforcement Team, Challinor blamed his lodger, who he said he gave the waste to with instructions to take it to the tip.

The 45-year-old, of Fairways Drive, also denied he was trading at the time of the offence in October 2010 despite evidence from the packaging labels and the fact he had a business website.

A district judge sitting at Chester Magistrates Court on September 1 found Challinor guilty of fly-tipping, saying that his explanation ‘didn’t ring true’.

He was fined £150 and ordered to pay £400 court costs, £130 clean-up costs and a £15 victim surcharge to the council.

Cllr Lynn Riley, executive member for community and environment, said: “As well as the impact on the environment, human health and wildlife, it fly tipping forces local authorities to spend thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money every year on clean-up costs.”