Two residents fined for failing to help fly-tipping investigations
Two Sunderland residents have been left with hefty fines after they failed to co-operate with a fly-tipping investigation.
Syeda Nahar and Amirul Islam of Burnville Road were contacted by officers from Sunderland City Council's Community Safety Team following reports of rubbish being fly-tipped in the rear lane of Chester Road on or before the 18 March 2025.
During a search of the waste, officers found it consisted of household waste including food waste and personal documents.
Both Syeda Nahar and Amirul Islam were served with a notice under Section 108 of the Environment Act 1995, requiring them to attend an interview on 1 April last year.
Neither attended their interviews, so the council prosecuted them for failing to comply with the notice.
Nahar and Islam also failed to attend a hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 6 January, but were found guilty in their absence.
Syeda Nahar and Amirul Islam were each fined £660 and ordered to pay £540 costs and £47 compensation, resulting in a total financial penalty of £1247 each.
Sunderland City Council's Cabinet member for Environment, Transport and Net Zero, Councillor Lindsey Leonard said: "Fly-tipping and littering spoils the look and feel of our city's streets we take it very seriously and always investigate the reports we receive.
"I'd like to encourage anyone who spots fly-tipping or who has information on incidents to contact council and make a report so we can continue our work to stop this."
Revenue generated from fixed penalty notices, together with costs and compensation awarded by the courts, is invested back into the service towards cleaning up litter and fly-tipping, keeping highways clean, and enforcement against littering, graffiti and fly-posting.
