Three Wiltshire businesses have been fined hundreds after multiple fly-tipping investigations by the council.

The businesses, which cannot be named as they were not convicted in court, were all slapped with £300 fixed penalty notices.

The first fine came after the council was alerted that a Chippenham company had been fly-tipping business waste in a neighbouring household wheelie bin.

The owners were unable to produce the correct documentation, known as waste transfer notes, to show that they were lawfully managing their business waste.

A second fine was issued to a shop fitting business following an investigation into a fly-tipping offence on a grass verge in Lydiard Tregoze, on the outskirts of Swindon, during October 2023.

The firm was unable to produce waste transfer notes relating to business waste.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: The fly-tipped waste at Lydiard TregozeThe fly-tipped waste at Lydiard Tregoze (Image: Wiltshire Council)

Finally, a third business, based in Trowbridge, was penalised after its owners could not demonstrate where its waste was being lawfully disposed of.

Once again, the company could not provide waste transfer notes relating to the commercial waste that was produced at its premises.

All three businesses were given a 14-day statutory notice period to produce the correct documentation but failed to do so.

The fines come after Wiltshire Council invested heavily in cracking down on fly-tipping throughout the county.

Cllr Caroline Thomas, the cabinet member for transport and street scene, has urged business owners to fulfil their legal duty of care to manage their commercial waste.

She said: “All commercial traders have a legal duty of care to ensure that their waste is disposed of through the correct waste channels, regardless of how little waste is created.

“All businesses, no matter how small, should have a waste contract in place, and it is an offence for any business to dispose of their waste through the household waste channels or at a household recycling centre.

“As part of our business plan, we have invested significant sums into tackling fly-tipping, and that’s why we have dedicated officers who are authorised to request waste transfer notes from any business to ensure that their waste is disposed of through the correct channels and ultimately not fly-tipped.”

Businesses are required to keep waste transfer notes for a legal period of two years in case they are asked to produce them by council officers.

Those who do not provide the correct documents could face a fixed penalty notice.