A restaurant which repeatedly dumped their waste unlawfully has been prosecuted.
In April 2022, the council’s enforcement team was investigating ongoing issues of commercial and domestic waste being unlawfully deposited in Buckingham Gardens, Slough.
Issues began in May, when despite warnings, bins belonging to Swagath restaurant in Slough High Street, were left on the public highway without authority. The unlawful storage of the commercial bins in the area was having a detrimental impact on the area, resulting in fly-tipping, overflowing bins onto the public highway and it was attracting pests.
The council’s environmental waste team were forced to attend the area almost daily to clear excess waste and overspill from bins which had been overfilled.
When the commercial waste bins belonging to the restaurant were collected, the excess waste from these bins was not cleared by the restaurant’s waste contractors, which was left for the council to address.
Council officers engaged with businesses in the area and gave restaurants time to make new arrangements for the collection of their waste, but when this didn’t happen, they were told immediate action was now required to remove the bins from the public highway to resolve the ongoing issues.
On 7 June, the company which owned the bins and emptied them on behalf of the restaurant, were ordered to remove them after being contacted by the council and told of the ongoing issues.
On 8 June, when no bins were present and the area was clear of waste, a sign was installed saying dumping rubbish in the area was an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Following the removal of Swagath bins, council officers again contacted the restaurant explaining the council’s actions and reiterated that no further waste could be disposed of on the public highway.
On an unrelated visit to the area on 9 June, council officers again found waste deposited in the area. An investigation found evidence tracing back to Swagath in the same place and directly underneath the sign saying enforcement action could be taken.
Representatives from Swagath restaurant attended Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday 17 March to answer two counts of fly-tipping and one count of failure in their Duty of Care.
In court, the restaurant was fined £500 for each offence, a victim surcharge of £600 and costs of £800, a total of £2,900.
Councillor Balvinder Bains, cabinet member for public protection, regulation and enforcement, said: “If only this restaurant had taken note of how they could properly dispose of their waste, it would have saved them time and money. Please let this be a warning that we take such offences seriously and we will bring prosecutions where necessary.”