A dopey white van man has been fined thousands of pounds – after he fly-tipped dozens of bags of CANNABIS plants at a beauty spot.
James Edwards, 58, was rumbled by a pub-goer who saw him lobbing the plants out the back of his white van in Corley, near Coventry, in March last year.
He confronted Edwards who fled in his van but the eagle-eyed passer-by noted down his number plate which he handed to the police.
Edwards, from Coventry, failed to turn up at Nuneaton Magistrates Court where he was found guilty in his absence of ”depositing without an environmental permit for controlled waste”.
He was fined £2,807 and ordered to pay £1,293 in court and clear up costs.
Steve Maxey, assistant chief executive of Nuneaton Borough Council, said:
”It takes a lot of resources to clear up and investigate this kind of environmental problem.
”In fact it costs our council Tax Payers around £60,000 a year.
”We would also like to thank the member of the public for his intervention, which enabled us and the police to track down the offender.”
