A SENIOR councillor has described the actions of an Andover woman whose bags of waste were found dumped before she purchased waste bins from Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) as 'just not good enough'.

Paula Araujo, 34, of Halter Way, Andover, moved into her property in September last year, but didn’t purchase a household waste or recycling bin to be collected by the council.

Instead, she claimed she had put the nine bags of food and plastic bottles outside ready for collection, before they were then found on land near Ox Drove in Picket Piece.

As previously reported, she has been made to pay almost £1,000.

READ MORE: Andover woman must pay nearly £1k for failing to verify that waste collector was ‘authorised’

At Basingstoke Magistrates Court, Ms Araujo was fined £480, ordered to pay £458 in costs and a £48 victim surcharge for breaching her duty of care for her waste.

Portfolio holder, councillor Nick Adams-King, said: “It is residents’ responsibility to know what is happening with their waste. Saying that you assume that our waste collection teams had just picked up the bags is not good enough.

“Residents do not deserve to foot the bill for those who are ignorant with their waste, and I’m pleased that in this case, the person responsible for that has been made to cover the cost.”

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