Flytipper Caught Red-Handed By Police Helicopter Crew

A flytipper has been fined £400 after being caught red-handed by a Police helicopter crew.

The chopper, based at Husbands Bosworth, was returning from call-out when they spotted a man dumping bags of rubbish in a lay-by on the A47 near Tugby, and then driving off.

It followed his car for 20 miles before officers on the ground stopped it in Queniborough, north of Leicester.

The man, aged in his 20s, from Birmingham, who has not been named, has been handed a fixed penalty notice by Harborough District Council’s enviro-crime team and had his car seized, following the incident last month.

He told council investigators he had been disposing of household waste for his mother.

The rubbish dumped on the A47

Inspector Siobhan Gorman, commander for Harborough and Wigston neighbourhood policing area, said: “This case demonstrates an excellent example of the clear and important communication between our officers and our colleagues at the National Police Air Service (NPAS) and just goes to show that whether NPAS are directly responding to an incident or not, they are alert to criminality activity on the ground.

“We are pleased to have helped Harborough District Council, through the evidence we gathered, to secure this fine.”

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, Harborough District Council’ Cabinet lead for Environment & Waste said: “What a fantastic result this is and a great example of partnership working. This sends out a strong warning to potential fly-tippers that you never know who’s watching!”

The success comes just a few weeks after a woman from Corby and a woman from Leicester were fined by Harborough District Council for paying someone to remove rubbish which was later fly-tipped.

Cllr Bateman added: “I’d like to praise the actions of Leicestershire Police for being an ‘eye in the sky’ and helping track down the offender, and our council officers for another successful outcome.”