A man who was caught by surveillance cameras dumping household items at two different recycling sites on the same day has been ordered to pay more than £3,000 by Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court.

Adam Walters, of Packenham Road, Kings Furlong, was prosecuted by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council after his vehicle was captured by cameras at the council’s recycling sites at Popley Fields Community Centre and the Winklebury Centre, in March 2023.

The court heard that Walters drove a Ford Transit van to the Popley site, where he dumped items including a fireplace and mantlepiece, as well as a large flat-screen TV in front of the recycling banks.

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He then drove to the Winklebury site to dump other items including an exercise weight bench and a picture.

Walters, 34, pleaded guilty to both fly-tipping offences on Tuesday, October 31. He was ordered to pay fines totalling £1,500, as well as £439 costs, compensation of £500 and a £600 victim surcharge.

This is the first prosecution for fly-tipping at the council’s recycling sites since the cameras were installed last November as part of a pilot project to help reduce fly-tipping in Basingstoke and Deane with funding from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Evidence provided by the cameras has also supported the council to issue 45 fixed penalty notices, five written warnings and one formal caution.

The cameras are placed at Brighton Hill Shopping Centre, Castons car park in Basingstoke town centre, the Fieldgate Centre in Kingsclere, Overton Hill car park in Overton, Popley Fields Community Centre in Popley and Winklebury Centre in Winklebury.

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Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services and Housing, Cllr Laura James, said: “It is really important the borough’s recycling sites are just used for recycling, and that people dispose of their household waste appropriately.

“Since the cameras have been installed at the sites and complemented with signage to support residents on how to use our recycling sites properly, we have seen a reduction in the number of people fly-tipping at them.

“Education and information are important but sometimes stronger action is required and the surveillance cameras have provided us with the evidence to issue fines and achieve this prosecution, which I hope will deter people further.

“Fly-tips like this are an eyesore, are costly to clear and can be hazardous and I hope that this case and the other enforcement action we have taken causes people who are considering misusing our recycling sites to think twice.”