A FLY-TIPPER dumped an enormous pile of rubbish on a cycle path — so he could make room in his van to help a friend move a settee.

The waste haul, which included three settees, three mattresses and an air hockey table, was found by a council officer patrolling Middlebrook Lane, which is off Blackshaw Lane in Deane.

The rubbish had been dumped by Christopher Dean, after he was given £30 to dispose of the waste with two other people, who he did not name.

Dean, aged 30, did not have a waste carriers licence, and said he thought the cycle-path was "derelict land".

He said he tipped the rubbish because a friend of his had asked him to pick up a settee on the same night and that he would not have been able to fit in his van unless he got rid of the load.

The rubbish dumped included two TVs, plasterboard, a shower curtain, some bushes, a sink, a rug, a broken chair, wood, cushions, a washing machine door, a walk-along child's toy, bags of wallpaper cuttings, bags of carpet cuttings and several large boxes.

Dean, of Hunger Hill Avenue, was given a two-year conditional discharge at Bolton Magistrates' Court and ordered to pay total court costs of £472 after pleading guilty.

Bolton Council successfully prosecuted a second man for fly-tipping on the same day.

Stephen Hall, aged 48, of Tabley Avenue, Daubhill, was fined £100 and ordered to pay £220 costs. He had claimed the rubbish was dumped by men who normally empty his bins privately.

Cllr Nick Peel, cabinet member for the environment, said the council would continue to pursue fly-tippers.

He said: "These are the latest successful prosecutions and there are others in the pipeline.

"The message that fly-tippers need to understand is that Bolton Council is not going to let up and we are going to continue to prosecute people for what is anti-social behaviour.

"If people think they can get away with it they need to be aware that we are watching them and are coming for them."