A Whitland man has been ordered to pay £150 for illegally carrying scrap. Brendan Joyce, aged 29, of Westover, West Street, pleaded guilty under Section 1 of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 at Ammanford Magistrates Court on Monday. The prosecution was brought by Carmarthenshire County Council. The court heard Joyce was stopped in Cross Hands on July 9 as part of a three-day multi-agency operation targeting illicit rubbish dumpers across South West Wales. He was driving a white Ford Transit and it was carrying general scrap. Joyce was asked a number of questions and he admitted he did not have a waste carriers licence. The court heard that when interviewed by council environmental enforcement officers at a later date, Joyce produced a waste carriers licence - it had been obtained the day after he was stopped at Cross Hands. He was fined £100 by magistrates and ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs. The crackdown held in July - known as Operation Beagle - also included Dyfed-Powys Police, Environment Agency Wales, the DVLA, VOSA, HM Revenue and Customs and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service. A total of 35 vehicles were stopped by the officers during the roadside operation. Eleven fixed penalty notices were issued to waste carriers who failed to provide appropriate transfer documentation for the waste they were carrying and seven were caught transporting waste without a licence to do so. It is now hoped this latest case will help to deter waste cheats in the county who are illegally transporting waste. Those caught flouting the law will be hauled before the courts and could be fined up to £5,000. Executive board member for the environment, Clr. Pam Palmer, said: "All businesses that carry waste, including scrap merchants, skip companies, builders and gardeners, must have a waste carriers licence. "They must also make sure they have the correct paperwork, known as waste transfer notes, for all the waste they carry and only use licensed waste sites to dispose of their rubbish. "By working together, we can all help to drive the professional fly-tippers out of business, which, in the long run, saves council taxpayers thousands of pounds."
