A ROMSEY man has been handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay full costs after pleading guilty to fly-tipping waste including industrial kitchen appliances.

Test Valley Borough Council took Mark Hilden of Scallows Lane, West Wellow, to court after they received a report of a fly-tip near Roman Road, Broughton on 21 October 2021.

The waste was blocking access to the Southern Water Services Ltd site and also a footpath, which leads to the Clarendon Way.

The waste included industrial-sized fridges, an oven and an ironing board, together with a large number of blue plastic vegetable crates. The appliances displayed the PAT testing labels which allowed them to be traced back to The Concorde Club in Eastleigh. The club confirmed that they had paid £300 cash for the waste to be removed and the removal had been captured on CCTV.

A DVLA enquiry confirmed that the vehicle in the CCTV footage was registered to the defendant. The stills from the CCTV were also sent to Hampshire Constabulary who identified Mr Hilden in the images.

At Southampton Magistrates' Court, on September 7, Mr Hilden was disqualified from driving for three months and sentenced to 12 weeks in custody, reduced to eight weeks for an early guilty plea, suspended for two years

He was also ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work, reduced to 80 hours for an early guilty plea.

He will pay Test Valley Borough Council £133 in compensation to cover clean-up costs, plus full costs of £1,041.

Portfolio holder for environmental services, Cllr Nick Adams-King, said: "I would like to say a massive thank you to all those involved in bringing Mr Hilden to justice.

"Thanks to the breadcrumb trail that started with the PAT testing labels, through to the CCTV that placed the defendant at the scene in his vehicle, we were able to track down the person responsible.

"Fly-tipping is a terrible crime with terrible consequences, and I hope this sends a message to those criminals who think they can get away with it, that they absolutely won't."