The case was brought by the Environment Agency.

In 2016 Minster Tippers Limited deposited 4,659 tonnes of non-hazardous soil and sub-soil on a field at Poltimore, Exeter. The waste came from development sites around Exeter and was four and a half times the limit allowed by the Environment Agency under an authorisation known as an U1 waste exemption. The maximum limit for soil and sub-soil permitted under a U1 is 1,000 tonnes.

The waste was used to level off a substantial part of a field, significantly altering its character and that of the surrounding landscape. The defendant told the Environment Agency that while they had obtained a copy of the site’s U1 waste exemption they acknowledged they’d failed to comply with its tonnage limits.

Richard Tugwell, for the Environment Agency, said:

The defendant breached the site’s U1 waste exemption tonnage limit for commercial gain and undermined legitimate waste operators. Companies who deposit waste must check a receiving site can legally accept their waste and that they comply with a site’s tonnage limits.

Appearing before Exeter magistrates, Minster Tippers Limited of Combe St Nicholas, Chard, Somerset were fined £7,000 and ordered to pay £3,746 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The case was heard on 29 October 2018.