A SKIP hire company and its yard manager have been ordered to pay more than £30,000 for operating a site without a permit and illegally depositing waste.

John Cooper and company JJC Hire Limited pleaded guilty to storing waste illegally at Elliscales Quarry at Dalton and illegally depositing waste at Sandscales Park Industrial Estate, Barrow.

JJC Hire Limited was fined £18,000, ordered to pay £4,316.14 contribution costs to the Environment Agency and a £170 victim surcharge totalling £22,486.14

Cooper, 45, of Abbey Road, Barrow, was fined £3,720, ordered to pay £4,316.13 contribution costs to the Environment Agency and a £170 victim surcharge totalling £8,206.13. At the time of the offences, JJC Hire Limited was unable to manage the scale of its waste operations at Cooper’s Yard, South Cumbria Magistrates Court was told.

Rather than scale back, the company illegally used Elliscales Quarry to store empty skips and skips full of waste when there was no permit in place authorising waste operations.

JJC Hire Limited also used a large area of land on Sandscales Park Industrial Estate to deposit and bury at least 80 tonnes of trommel fines from its waste operations at the Coopers Yard site under the direction of Cooper.

Where permits are granted by the Environment Agency, clear permit conditions are set out to ensure that business operators take the appropriate steps to ensure waste is managed safely to reduce the risk to the environment.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “JJC Hire Limited and John Cooper are involved in the waste industry and are aware that they would need to hold a permit to treat waste. Waste crime can damage the environment, undermine those who operate legally and blight local communities.

“These serious offences will not be tolerated and we will take action, as in this case, to pursue and prosecute offenders. Like the police, the Environment Agency relies on members of the public and legitimate businesses to help us identify culprits.”

Call the EA’ incident helpline on 0800 80 70 60.