5 Blackburn residents named and shamed for dumping rubbish

In three of the cases the waste became home to rodents.

The court penalties followed five successful prosecutions brought by Blackburn with Darwen Council,.

They followed neighbours complaining about mounting rubbish – with front and rear gardens and back alleys being used as dumping grounds for rotting waste.

The defendants were summonsed to appear before Blackburn Magistrates last month after ignoring calls to take action by the council.

Brittany Lea Walker of Whinney Lane, Blackburn; Russell Holden of Ennerdale Avenue, Blackburn; Stephen Duerden of New Bank Road, Blackburn; and Sylvia Holmes New Chapel Street, Blackburn, were each ordered to pay £1,046 each after failing to comply with requests to remove their waste.

The penalties were made up of a £660 fine, £320 costs and a £66 victim surcharge. The cases were proved in their absence.

Amy Louise Shaw of Angela Street, Blackburn, was ordered to pay £317 after pleading guilty to depositing waste in a back alley.

Tony Watson, head of environment for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said: “Let it be known that the Council will not tolerate rubbish building up and causing issues for residents.

“Piles of rubbish are not just unsightly, they cause serious issues for the community – including bad smells and attracting vermin. There’s absolutely no excuse for it.

“Most residents take pride in their homes and surroundings, and we thank them for this – however, we will do everything in our power to take action against those who don’t. We take each waste complaint very seriously and investigate thoroughly when complaints are made to us.

“I would like to thank our Environmental Waste Crime team for their hard work and dedication in bringing forward these prosecutions, as well as all members of the public who report waste offences to us.”

Last year, the council’s Environmental Waste Crime team received payment for 66 fixed penalty notices and mounted 49 prosecutions.

Brittany Lea Walker was ordered to pay £1,046 in fines and costs and a victim surcharge for failing to remove waste as required on March 10 2020 from land at Whinney Lane, Blackburn (below).

Russell Holden was ordered to pay £1,046 in fines and other charges for failing to obey an notice to remove waste on March 29 2020 from land at Ennerdale Avenue, Blackburn (below).

Stephen Duerden was ordered to pay £1,046 in fines and other charge for failing to comply with a requirement to remove waste from land at New Bank Road, Blackburn on February 7 2020.The case was proved in his absence (below).

Sylvia Holmes was ordered to pay £1,046 for failing to obey a notice to remove waste from land at New Chapel Street, Blackburn on July 16 2020. The case was proved in her absence (below).

Amy Louise Shaw of Angela Street, Blackburn, was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £32 ,totalling £317, in penalties, after pleading guilty to depositing waste on land to the rear of Angela Street, Blackburn, or January 21 2020 (below).