Town centre cafe fined £1,000 by council for storing commercial waste bin in Northampton street
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has prosecuted a cafe for repeatedly failing to comply with waste management requirements designed to keep the town centre clean and safe.
Caffe D’Italia, Fish Street, Northampton, was found guilty in its absence at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday July 14 to an offence of failing to comply with a legal notice relating to the storage of commercial waste.
The court imposed the maximum fine of £1,000, victim surcharge of £400 and ordered the business to pay the council’s full prosecution costs of £1,190.42, according to WNC.
The prosecution followed repeated breaches of the Northampton Town Centre Environmental Policy, which requires businesses to store waste containers off public land and only present them for collection during designated collection periods.
Despite receiving informal advice and guidance from WNC officers on a number of occasions, Caffe D’Italia continued to store a commercial waste eurobin on public land in Dychurch Lane.
To formally address the issue, WNC served a notice under Section 47 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, requiring the business to make suitable arrangements for the storage and collection of its waste. When the business failed to comply, a Fixed Penalty Notice was issued.
Subsequent inspections confirmed that the eurobin remained on public land, demonstrating ongoing non-compliance with the legal notice and prompting WNC to commence prosecution action.
Throughout the investigation and enforcement process, the business failed to engage with WNC or respond to correspondence. The case was prosecuted by West Northamptonshire Council’s in-house Legal Services team.
Cllr Andrew Last – Cabinet Member for HR, Corporate and Regulatory Services, said: “All businesses have a duty to store their commercial waste properly in line with the requirements of the Town Centre Policy. Waste that is not stored correctly is detrimental to our town centre. Not only does it attract vermin, cause litter and encourage fly tipping, but it also creates obstructions for town centre users and looks unsightly.
“We are working towards creating a cleaner, greener and safer town centre to attract more visitors, but we can’t do this alone - it requires all our local businesses and residents to play their part. When breaches occur, we will always try to work with local businesses to educate and support them to make the required changes, but if this fails, we will move to formal enforcement action.”