Scrap man carrying two fridge freezers on his van roof fined over £1,000 for not having proper licence

Arron Cooper, 23, of Bridge Court, Balderton, was stopped by police in June 2015 with another man at Cranwell.

They were in a white Transit van, full of scrap metal, with two fridge freezers strapped onto the roof.

On March 24, Lincolnshire Magistrates Court heard that he told police he had the necessary licences to collect scrap, but not with him, and that he was travelling back from collecting the material in Skegness.

It was said by the prosecution that in truth he had no authorisation from either East Lindsey District Council or the Environment Agency to operate in this way and the van had not been identified on number plate recognition cameras as having been within the East Lindsey area.

Every scrap dealer must have a permit to collect material from the local authority of the area in which they are collecting.

After failing to provide further documentation to North Kesteven District Council, the authority prosecuted him and after failing to attend court, a warrant was issued for his arrest, which ultimately led to him being brought before Lincoln Magistrates on March 24.

Copper pleaded guilty to both offences – of failing to provide waste transfer notices and obstructing an enquiry – saying he could not remember the incident, being stopped by police, the request for information, letters or the summons.

The council asked for costs totalling £719.41 and the court heard that he already owed £320 in outstanding fines from last August for which he was given a 10-day suspended sentence.

He was fined £200 for each of these latest offences, ordered to pay £600 towards the costs and a £40 victim surcharge – totalling £1,040 – at a weekly rate of £10.