Sister firms fined £17,600 for illegally dumping waste

Chippenham magistrates have ordered two building firms owned by the same businessman to pay more than £20,000 in fines and costs for illegally dumping waste.

Construction company AC Nurden of the Yard, Park Road, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, diverted skip waste to Malmesbury Garden Centre, which is owned by Joden (Builders) Ltd, to use for hardcore or land filling. Andrew Nurden is the sole director of both companies.

An Environment Agency (EA) investigation estimated that 107 skips of waste were illegally dumped at the unlicensed site without the necessary paperwork or permits, saving £70 per skip on landfill costs. A licence would have cost a further £5,000.

An EA spokesman said: "AC Nurden has a long-standing business history, including waste management, and should therefore be fully aware of environment law."

AC Nurden was fined £7,000 after pleading guilty to one offence of depositing mixed skip waste on land without the necessary licence and £600 for failing to complete waste transfer notes.

Joden was fined £10,000, after admitting two offences of knowingly permitting the treatment of commercial waste without a licence.