Northampton man handed community order and hefty fine for dumping waste in country lane

Darren Clifford Lyons, of Hever Close, appeared at Wellingborough Magistrates Court on May 20, where he pleaded guilty to depositing controlled waste without the authority of a current permit.

The 47-year-old drove his van to Banbury Lane in Northampton on May 7, 2024 and dumped household waste there, before driving off.

Lyons was trading as A-Star Waste Northamptonshire and was a licenced waste carrier. According to West Northamptonshire Council (WNC), this gave rise to the concern that Lyons would still be offering his services and illegally dumping the waste he collected. The offence was deemed serious enough to prosecute, instead of issuing a fixed penalty notice.

Councillor Nigel Stansfield, WNC’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Waste said: “We will not tolerate fly-tipping within our communities, and we know how important it is to our residents that offenders are held to account for environmental crimes such as this.

“This case highlights the importance of householders checking with waste carriers and asking questions of how and where they will be disposing of their waste. We also urge people to get a receipt from the contractor which details what action they will be taking with your waste.”

Lyons was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 30 rehabilitation days and fined £2,033.36. WNC says the community order is the first of its kind issued by the court in respect of offences investigated by WNCs Environmental Crime Team and “reflects the seriousness of the offence”.