THE prosecution of a flytipper has been hailed by Test Valley Borough Council.

Justin Whitehead dumped household waste at the council’s local recycling centre in Charlton on February 12 this year.

The Vernham Street, Andover, resident was hit with a six month conditional discharge when he appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 7 June after pleading guilty and was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1,562..

Test Valley environmental portfolio holder, Councillor Graham Stallard, said: “This was a great result in court for the council and another reminder to everyone that we take a zero tolerance approach to fly-tipping in our borough. All reports of fly tipping are investigated and will be taken through to prosecution with sufficient evidence.

“The council is taking this opportunity to remind residents that Local Recycling Centres are only provided for recycling.”

The council added local recycling centres collect a variety of materials that cannot be recycled in the brown wheeled bins, such as glass bottles and jars, textiles, cartons and aluminium foil but are not provided for the disposal of household waste.

Household waste recycling centres (HWRC) are for the public to dispose of any domestic waste, garden waste, recyclable materials, oil and limited amounts of rubble. These are provided and operated by Hampshire County Council.

More than one million incidents of fly-tipping were dealt with by councils in England in 2016-17, costing taxpayers £58m to clear up.

My Test Valley allows the public to report issues such as fly-tipped waste to the council. Issues can be reported online an at testvalley.gov.uk/mytestvalley, downloading the My Test Valley app or by calling 01264 368000.