A TRUCK firm has been ordered to pay a record £29,000 in fines and costs after dumping an unmarked trailer carrying 24,000 litres of hazardous waste oil in a lay-by near Ross-on-Wye.

The penalty issued by Hereford Magistrates’ Court to Birmingham truck business MJB Truck Services Limited is the biggest ever issued for unlawful waste disposal in Herefordshire.

The court heard that all of the trailer’s markings had been removed and the firm’s director Jason Bowser had given a fictitious company name to the seller when he bought it in an online auction.

Herefordshire Council put out an appeal last December for information about the articulated trailer when it was found dumped on the A49 layby at Much Birch.

Officers from the council’s community protection Tteam (CPT) discovered that the trailer had been abandoned containing waste oil from an industrial process.

Although all of its identification markings had been removed, an extensive 11-month CPT investigation with the local Environment Agency enforcement team revealed its owner from a hire sticker on the trailer.

Magistrates heard last Thursday (November 1) that Bowser, 45, of Wednesbury, admitted he had paid £3,000 to an unknown third party to dispose of the trailer and its contents.

He accepted that he knew it was possible that they may illegally dispose of the trailer and its contents, but he transferred the waste regardless.

MJB Truck Services Limited and Bowser pleaded guilty to a charge of failing in their duty of care to transfer their business waste, which included hazardous waste oil from an industrial process, to an authorised person and to secure the transfer with a written description of the waste.

In addition to a £14,000 fine and costs totalling £15,000, Bowser

received a three-year conditional discharge.

David Hough, Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards Service Manager, said: “This is the largest fine Herefordshire Council has been awarded for a trade waste prosecution, and reflects the considerable environmental risk posed by the abandoned contaminated liquid, which would have had a catastrophic effect if the liquid had leaked into the surrounding countryside and watercourses.

“All businesses must ensure they have appropriate duty of care measures in place so their trade waste is disposed of correctly, and we will take action against any business that illegally disposes of their waste.”

Cllr Barry Durkin, Cabinet member for transport and regulatory services, said: “The significant fine reflects the potential environmental risk posed by the abandoned waste.”