Supermarket sentenced for waste and licensing offences
A Handsworth supermarket has been ordered to pay £3,740 after pleading guilty to seven offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and Licensing Act 2003, at Birmingham Magistrates Court today (14 December 2015).
Heresh Ahmed Khedir, who runs Villa Supermarket, based at 117 Villa Road, Handsworth, was prosecuted by Birmingham City Council after commercial waste was found dumped on Hunters Road, in Lozells, in January and February 2015.
Khedir, who pleaded guilty to the offences at earlier hearings, was fined £2,740, ordered to pay £950 towards court costs and a £50 victim surcharge.
Environmental health officers found approximately seven bags on Hunters Road, Lozells on 21 January 2015 – which when opened were found to contain documents relating to Villa Supermarket and 117 Villa Road.
Two weeks’ later, on 5 February 2015, officers returned to Hunters Road where they found around 30 bags of dumped waste, connected to Villa Supermarket.
Officers subsequently found that the supermarket did not have a business waste contract in place and was dumping its waste or putting it out illegally for the council’s bin men to collect.
Khedir was also found to be breaching a number of conditions on his premises licence - namely that the personal licence holder was not on the premises between 23:00 and 06:00 hours, door supervision was not present at weekends, CCTV recordings were not held for 28 days and staff training records were not provided.
Cllr Barbara Dring, Chair of the Licensing and Public Protection Committee, added: “Businesses must not use the domestic collection service; they must have a separate contract for their business waste - not doing so has been an offence since the Environmental Protection Act came into effect in 1990.
“Firms that do not have adequate arrangements in place are essentially making the citizens of Birmingham pay for their waste to be collected when it is presented at the kerbside like domestic household rubbish. They are also putting law-abiding firms that do have valid trade waste contracts at a commercial disadvantage as they seek to bypass the legislation that is in place.”
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Sustainability for Birmingham City Council, said: “We need to love and respect our neighbourhoods, so it is disappointing to see rubbish being dumped on our streets. There is no excuse for businesses to dump their waste.
“We will use all the powers available to us to take enforcement action and prosecute anyone – businesses or individuals – fly tipping waste in Birmingham. Keeping our city’s streets clean is everyone’s responsibility so we will continue to clamp down on litter bugs and fly tippers, targeting areas where there is a persistent problem.”
The supermarket has subsequently obtained a Birmingham City Council trade waste contract.
ENDS
Media contact: Emma Brady, Press and PR Officer, on 0121 303 6969 or email [email protected]
